Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC 15 v York RUFC 15

Match Report by Jonathan Leach

The ground at Kirkby Lonsdale must be one of the most picturesque in the country and no surprise as the town itself is renowned for “ Ruskin’s view”. He described it as naturally divine. It was a delightful day for rugby, dry and crisp with no wind. Even with a weakened side York travelled hoping and expecting to achieve a second away win of the season having beaten their hosts 50-0 when playing them at home; Kirkby having only managed one win all season and that against the side, bottom of the league, who had themselves not managed a win.

That optimism took a dent after only 2 minutes when the Kirkby No 8 took advantage of some poor York defence to stroll in for a try which was converted. York down 7-0. Within 2 minutes York kicked a penalty to reduce the arrears and after 20 minutes went into a 7-10 lead after a break from the backs who fed winger Joe Baker to run in from near halfway for a try which was converted by Liam Hessay.A consistent York strength this season has been the scrum but it was not until the end of the first half before the Kirkby scrum felt under pressure. Kirkby had the majority of possession and territory in the first half and York had to defend hard to keep a slender lead. York’s cause was not helped by the number of penalties given away which gave Kirkby confidence.

The majority of the second half was ‘attritional’ with most of the play taking part in the centre of the pitch and neither side dominating. Whilst York had a number of drives from lineouts, they could not convert the pressure into points. The York scrum was however becoming more dominant and this finally told after 20 minutes when after several drives the pressure told and the number 8 Willem Enslin scored a try which was not converted. The York lead was now 7-15. The travelling support hoped and expected York to pull away but within 5 minutes York gave away another penalty and Kirkby ran in an unconverted try to make the score 12-15. Kirkby’s confidence was now sky high and resulted after a further period of pressure in a penalty which they kicked to make the score 15 each. York tried in the dying minutes to snatch a win but despite being in a promising position, gave away another penalty to allow Kirkby to relieve the pressure and the game then petered out.