Aire draw positives from narrow loss

Aire travelled to Leeds Medics with several changes from the side that narrowly beat Knottingley the previous week.

Aire were missing some key personnel & had a squad of 17; however they were boosted by new player Lamar Holmes & also RL debutant Chris Parlour who was playing his first game of Union.

Medics had a full squad of 20 and they were clearly strengthened by returning and new players. This meant that form meant nothing and Aire would be in a real battle to maintain their 100% win record.

Aire were against the wind and immediately from kick off Medics were quick in the tackle and put Aire ball carriers under pressure.

Medics had an early upper hand in the scrum and certainly pushed the boundaries at the ruck. They were often quick to the ball on the deck and capitalised on having a head start on the referee.

Aire were under pressure and Medics line speed was a constant thorn; however Will Girt slipped a tackle and popped the offload to supporting stand in winger James Underwood. The defence was tracking across and Unders was hit in the 5m channel, but managed to produce a sublime offload before being bundled into touch. Flying full back Jamie Sykes snaffles to pass and had a clear run to the try line, only to be halted by a belated and incorrect touch decision. Unders was a boot width in play before his offload and to the disbelief of the sideline Jamie was recalled and a lineout was awarded to Medics.

This provided a platform for medics and they had a sustained period of pressure in and around Aire’s third of the pitch. A combination of some in accurate handling by the home team and bloody minded defending kept Medics at arm’s length.

The w row trio of Lewis Eastwood, Ben Hague and Will Warrington were immense at the in the tackle and also at the breakdown. Will Girt was enjoying the freedom of number 8 and he read the game superbly to hit the breakdowns and either steal ball or win penalties.

After a 20 minute period of pressure, Aire steddied themselves and used their pod and maul game to god effect. They worked their way into Medic’s red zone where Will Warrington busted the gain line and off loaded to supporting scrum half Adam Bishop, who raced in unopposed on the left hand side to score a poachers try.

Medics capitalised from some sloppy work after the re-start, but again Aire’s mean and committed defence frustrated.

The ball went dead after a grubber from Medics, but referee incorrectly awarded Medics with a 5m scrum. Aire managed to disrupt this and win a lineout, but the clearance kick was charged down to make it 5 all.

Aire responded d used their big ball carriers to work their way up field. Flanker Will Tomlinson carried in hard and was hit by a strong tackle, which ended up lifting well beyond the horizontal and thudding back to ground in a reckless ans dangerous manner. The whistle was blown: however Aire were bamboozled when the tackle was deemed as legal and the ref blew full time.

The second half became fractious with both teams frustration levels steadily increasing. Aire’s nee look backs didn’t really knit, but individually there were some strong performances. Fred Ibbetson and Jamie Sykes looked very threatening; however Medics young and athletic team were good at scrambling and reorganising t lo cover broken tackles.

That said Aire’s defence was equally resolute and time and again they pressured Medics into handling errors at crucial times.
With plenty of time on the clock Aire extinguished Medics intent for tries and a possible BP and forced them into taking penalty kicks of which 2 were successful.

Aire rallied in the last 8 minutes and were themselves awarded a string of penalties. Aire were camped in Medic’s territory and yet another infringement was conceded by Medics. Jacob Waugh fired a beauty that crossed the touch line about 10m from the whitewash. To the amazement of the sideline the lineout was awarded outside Medics 22m. The resulting throw was disrupted and after a scrabble for possession, Medics managed to het it out and the final whistle was blown.

The lads were initially deflated, but soon rounded on the positives of coming close to winning in very difficult circumstances.

Aire’s defence limited an attacking outfit to one fortunate charge score, which was not the result of Medics creativity. Aire also hot a BP and this may prove important in months to come.

All 17 lads put in a monumental shift and it’s hard to pick out individuals. Ben Hague is getting better every game and his front row comrades of Lewis Eastwood and Will Warrington had very solid games.

New comer Nathan Cawood has made great strides in 2 games as has Lavar Holmes. James Underwood always gives 110% no matter what position he plays and the back row combo of San Sellers, Will Girt, Chinny and Mikey were competitive throughout.

It was a tough day for the backs but half back combi of Adam Bishop and Jacob Waugh did well in difficult circumstances. The midfield held firm with Beckers and debutant Chris Parlour. Aire’s biggest threats were the back 3 with Jamie Sykes and Fred Ibbetson always making ground and beating defenders plus putting in a quality defensive shift.

Next week is a home game versus Hessle with a 1:45 meet for a 3pm KO.

As ever get those availabilities updated on Teamreach,