York travelled to Horsforth Leeds to play Yarnbury, knowing that an away win would keep them above their opponents in Y1. By Yarnbury standards their pitch was in pristine condition, albeit a little heavy under foot. York had managed to string together 3 straight wins and should have been confident ahead of their game, against a team that had lost their last 4.

On a sunny day with a slight breeze blowing down the pitch, conditions were near ideal for open rugby. York had the advantage of the breeze first and were soon camped in the Yarnbury half. As soon as the 5th minute Davies was to slot over the first of his 4 penalties giving York an early lead. York’s failure to deal with the ensuing kick-off, allowed the home side to gain a brief foothold in their opponents half where they were awarded a penalty from which fly half Pound was to level the scores on 8 minutes.
York quickly brought play into the home sides half, where Davies added his 2nd penalty on 10 minutes. Yarnbury pressure then followed but York’s defence as in recent weeks was solid, Pound missed a chance to level the scores. York worked the ball down field allowing Davies to extend the York lead 9 -3 on 16 minutes. The visitor’s constant pressure should have brought further reward and could have extended their lead on 20 minutes but Davies penalty attempt drifted wide.

York were dominating territorially but just couldn’t string the plays together to cross the Yarnbury line. On 27 minutes they lost Goulding (injured). Campbell Thompson making his season’s debut in the back row. A series of penalties by York allowed Yarnbury to relieve pressure and bring play back into the York half. This was short lived as Davies break down the wing, taking play back into the Yarnbury half, should have led to their first try. However covering defence forced the wrong decisions from York. York maintain the pressure and again forced a home side infringement which allowed Davies to slot his 4th penalty. 12 – 3 York. On the stroke of half time York scrum half Hargreaves was yellow card for what appeared to be deliberate obstruction.

Whereas the first half was territorially dominated by York so was the second half to be all Yarnbury. Whether it was playing the first 9 -10 minutes of the second half with 14 men that knocked York out of their rhythm or Yarnbury upping their game, they were unable (even with 15) to prevent Yarnbury from dominating. Six minutes into the first half after consistent pressure Yarnbury lock Maycock crashed over with Pound adding the conversion, 12 – 10 York. Yarnbury immediately brought play into the visitors half where Pound was able to slot over his 2nd penalty and with it the lead, 13 -12 on 11 minutes.

Again from the kick off Yarnbury all too easily brought play back into the York half, this time the York defence was to stay solid constantly repelling the Yarnbury attack. It would be 17 minutes of the second half before York got any sort of foothold in the Yarnbury half. Their efforts leading to a penalty. Unfortunately Davies attempt was well wide, allowing Yarnbury to break 30-40 yards down field and relieve the pressure. The York coaches rang the changes bringing Rawlings on in the second row replacing Britland, with Kay moving to 8. The next 15 minutes were again all Yarnbury but again York’s defence stood firm. It wasn’t until the 33rd minute that Pound was to extend the Yarnbury lead after the York backs were penalised for encroaching, 16 -12 Yarnbury. With time running out, York to their credit, managed to bring play into the Yarnbury 22 where they forced a penalty from the home side. Knowing a penalty wasn’t enough the kick was placed in the corner. Could their trade mark catch and drive steal them a victory. Unfortunately the throw didn’t go to hand, however possession was retained and for 7-8 phases they pressured the home side. The ball was eventually fed out wide but a wild pass that didn’t find hand, allowed Yarnbury to pile forward, the ball didn’t appear from the ruck, whistle blown, game over.