York entertained the league leaders at Clifton Park yesterday, hoping to put in a performance to rid the frustration of last weeks loss at Hull. York have played some very good rugby this season and rightly deserve to be at the sharp end of the table fighting for the playoff spot. Their downfall has been narrow losses away from home when they really should have taken the victory. The opportunity to test themselves against the league’s top performers came at an ideal time. The programme yesterday highlighted that York’s starting 15 contained 10 players who had come through the youth system at York. This is a fantastic ratio and testament to the effort and hard work done by all coaches and volunteers throughout the mini, youth and senior sections of the club. In an age of foreign imports, even at this level of competition, it bodes well for York’s future that they can continue to develop a steady supply of talented and committed players.

York kicked off with the sun and wind at their backs and conceded a knock-on. Offside from the resulting scrum gave Bridlington opportunity to visit the York half. An over-thrown lineout allowed Daz Rutherford to rumble forward for York and recycle the ball to the backs. Using the wind to steer a kick deep into the Brid 22, York chased down the clearing kicker twice before Newitt was on hand to pounce on the charged down ball to score the opening try. Evidence that a kick is only as good as the chase, York turned an innocuous kick into a score by chasing hard and applying the pressure to the Brid back three. Davies converted 7 nil. If York thought it was going to be an easy afternoon, they were quickly corrected as Brid struck back through the next set of phases; a knock-on collecting the kick-off resulted in a scrum and an early engage at the scrum eventually resulted in a penalty. The kick fell short but Brid were now the exponents, chasing their own kick. Piling on the pressure, Brid camped five metres from York’s line and following more infringements at the scrum, drove over to score their opening try. The conversion missed, York still had the edge; 7 – 5.York managed the next restart well as Hugh Nicholson caught the ball on the canter and made good ground. The home side then went through the phases effectively and closed in on the Brid 22. The resulting breakdown proved significant for the outlook of the whole game as the referee caught the Bridlington blindside flanker stamping on the head of a York player. The referee produced a red card and Bridlington were reduced to 14 men for 65 minutes of the game. Davies converted the penalty to move to 10 – 5. Although playing against 14 men, the home side needed to regain their own composure. Throwing speculative passes and trying to run from deep early in the first half was not appropriate. Bridlington drew a penalty after playing some sensible attacking rugby, 10 – 8. As the game settled down after the sending-off of the Brid player, York manged to retake some control and were dominant at the scrum. McClure used his boot effectively to manoeuvre York into the right areas and the forwards worked hard to suck in the Bridlington defenders. As the pressure told, Brid gave away a penalty to allow York an attacking platform from a line-out. The forwards drove hard through four quick phases and then released the backs. The ball moved efficiently to the wing where Will Atkin scored a very efficient team try. Davies was unable to convert from out wide; 15 – 8 The visitors were not ready to relinquish their reputation and roll over and embarked on an effective period of pressure before the halftime whistle. Some stout York defence was all that kept the Bridlington forwards from scoring as they continued to drive hard at the try line. The break for Brid came as the ball moved out from the breakdown and Girking cut an excellent line back towards the breakdown to score a deserved try. With the conversion made, the half time score was 15 – 15 and all to play for in the second half.

York were aware that the game was theirs for the taking but needed to be controlled and clinical for the full 40 in the second period. Moving the depleted Brid pack around and tiring them out would allow York attacking opportunities late into the game. This was a great test for the Minster men as previous losses this season had tended to result from mental fatigue rather than physical strain. The pack were dominant in the scrum and used this advantage well to tire the visiting forwards and make space for the York backs. Newitt made an excellent charge down the left flank but was ushered into touch five metres before the try line. From another dominant scrum, York drove hard through centre Forbes. Peace, playing out of position at scrum half snipped to dive over from the ruck to score York’s third try. Davies converted; 22 – 15. Further pressure told as York were awarded a penalty to move two scores ahead; 25 – 15.With 20 minutes of the game left to go, Bridlington went through a purple patch and strung phase after phase together. York’s defence was resolute but their clearing play was sometimes less than effective. Brid continued to pile on the pressure in the York 22 and were unlucky to come away with nothing. York will be rightly pleased to have weathered the storm during this phase of the game and kept Brid out. As the game came to a close, Bridlington to their merit, continued to attack. A knock on by a York defender gave the visitors a scrum in the York half. Depleted by numbers Brid were unable to hold their own scrum and York took the ball against the head. McClure rolled back the years and jinxed his way clear of the oncoming defenders. The ever-industrious Thomson was on hand to receive the pass and carry for another 15 metres before passing the ball on to Goulding who ran in to score York’s fourth and bonus point winning try. Davies missed the last conversion but it had little bearing on the game which ended shortly after, York the victors 30 – 15.

It was an excellent display by York, who even without their highly influential caption Fox, put in a mature and skilful performance. The fight for second spot and the play-off game is within York’s reach. Key to getting there will be repeating this level of control against West Leeds (in two weeks) and Old Brodleians in April who are both also pushing hard for that second place.