Guisborough kicked off with the wind behind them, instantly putting Yarnbury on the back foot and finding it hard to get any real forward momentum. The Guisborough back 3 were returning the Yarnbury kicks with some well-placed kicks of their own. The early exchanges were in the Yarnbury 22 but solid tacking and defence work started to frustrate the opposition. The forwards started to get some good phase play going which enabled the backs to get a bit of space with some good carrying from Harry Emmott and Dan Sellers. However, a shoulder injury to the Guisborough flanker allowed for a break in the game at 0-0 (hope all goes well and the injury is not too serious). With Guisborough down to 14 with no replacements Joe Birchall (Yarnbury) kindly put on a Guisborough shirt to keep the game at 15 aside. With 20 minutes on the clock Yarnbury started to make good ground down the right hand side which eventually saw the returning Dan Sellers carrying and evading a couple of tackles before touching down for the first try of the game, conversion missed 5-0. The game continued with Guisborough using the wind and kicking well to keep Yarnbury in their own half, but again, consistent defending and phase play by Yarnbury kept Guisborough off the score sheet. After a couple of decent line breaks Yarnbury won a penalty for a dump tackle on George Petrou and kicked for touch on the Guisborough 5M line. Guisborough chose to not compete in the line out or maul and this was to prove costly with the Yarnbury jumper, Ruairi Daly turning and powering over the line for the try with Oscar Andrews converting from a tight angle, 12-0 Yarnbury. Unfortunately, another injury to a Guisborough player saw another Yarnbury player help out to ensure the game stayed at 15’s. The rest of the first have did not deliver any more points but Yarnbury started to control the game.
A change of Yarnbury loan players to Guisborough as Joe Birchall and Luke McGibbon pulled on the Yarnbury shirt and Ruairi Daly and Carter Procter helped out the opposition, thanks to the lads for doing this.
With the wind at their backs and Oscar Andrews finding his box kicking boots Yarnbury started to dominate territory and put Guisborough under pressure with their clearance kicks being returned with interest by Keenan and Luke McGibbon, forcing the defence to scramble at regular intervals. However, this did not deter the Guisborough lads who were competing well at the breakdown to make a few turnovers of their own due to a combination of Yarnbury being slow to the break down as well as their own determination to ensure the game was by no means over. After a few more exchanges in the centre field Yarnbury set up another score with a barn storming break through the defence by Ed Green, missed conversion, 17-0. Guisborough were now finding it hard to get in to the Yarnbury 22 with the Yarnbury forwards working hard again and Charlie Harrison hitting the breakdowns with power and intent. A good clearance by Guisborough was collected by the Yarnbury full back, Keenan Dyer-Dixon and he returned the kick with breath taking speed, beating 2 players on the outside before cutting in through another tackle leaving the Guisborough defence behind, to score in the corner, missed conversion, 22-0. With 15 minutes to go, Guisborough were back down to 14 after another yellow for another tackle above the horizontal. The play continued with Guisborough still working hard and a scrappy bit of play saw the ball going straight up in the Yarnbury 22 and Luke McGibbon trying hard to scramble the ball clear only for the ball to be spilled and picked by a Guisborough player to dive over the line and get some points on the board, missed conversion, 22-5. With only a matter of minutes left on the clock Yarnbury worked the ball close to the Guisborough try line and Saman Azari diving over from close range to make the final score 27-5 to Yarnbury. Well done Yarnbury for a good first half of the season and thank You to Guisborough for making the journey and for a great game.

Merry Christmas everyone and we’ll see you in the New Year.