Aire stay on track at York R.I

York R.I 12 v Aireborough 15

This should have been a home fixture; however Aire’s pitch was waterlogged so the fixture was switched and York hosted the game. Both teams were pleased to field squads of 22 players and Aire’s debutant plyers Andrew Diamond, Adam Lowe, Ryan Lowe, Connor Fitzpatrick and Ollie Spinks were chomping at the bit to get on the pitch.

The conditions were good; however the pitch was wet making handling conditions challenging. The Aire line up included brothers Callum and Andrew Diamond in the pack, with both eager to impress. Aire got out of the traps fastest and a series of heavy drives took the Wolf Pack deep into York’s territory. Incoming flanker Dan Sellers had hit a couple of tasty lines; however his 3rd was abruptly stopped with a perfectly timed leg tackle, resulting in a substantial dead leg. Dan limped off and that was the end of his game.

Aire continued to press and with the forwards pounding York’s resolute defence, but credit to the hosts for fronting up in defence. The weight of carries from the likes of Lewis Eastwood, Will Warrington and Nathan Cawood eventually sucked in defenders and the ball found in form scrum half Adam Bishop (Bish), who dissected the defensive line to score from 15m out. Bish slotted the conversion, giving Aire a 7 point lead.

Debutant Andy Diamond fielded the re-started and powered into York’s chasing players. The ruck was secured and an athletic pick up from no8 Mikey Dolan punched into the guts of York’s midfield. York were penalised at the breakdown and up stepped Bish, who fired over the penalty to take a 10-0 lead.

This score energised York and they focussed on using short runners to bash it up the middle. It was attritional stuff, but it did reap some territorial gains. Aire’s discipline began to slip and the penalty count started mounting up. York kicked for territory and used their line out rumbled towards Aire’s line. The ball was moved wide and York’s centre hit a sweet line against the drifting defence, which led to a touch down. The conversion was slotted and it was 7 – 10 at half time.

The second half was always going to be tight, with the majority of play within the middle 3rd of the field. Aire rotated their line up, with game time for the Lowe brothers, Connor Fitzpatrick and flying winger Ollie Spinks. The game became fractious and discipline slipped for both sides , resulting in a high penalty count. The tireless work of Aire’s pack did find some territory in York’s red zone and skipper Mikey Dolan crashed over for a muscular try out wide. The conversion was missed, but Aire stretched their lead to 15-7.

York weren’t about to roll over and Aire’s indiscipline rewarded the home team with a string of penalties that ate up ground. The clock was against York, but they kept the ball in hand and laid siege to Aire’s try line. Committed defenders knocked down attackers, but finally Aire ran out of cavalry and York squeezed over on the left. The clock was in the red and the conversion was missed. The ref blew up and Aire were relieved to have squeezed home.

It was by no means a pretty performance, but it was certainly a gritty one and the Aire lads showed plenty of character and desire. The Aire boys can take plenty away from this game and this new look squad will be better for the experience.

Skipper Mikey Dolan was awarded Aire’s MOM by York and his down in one victory proved he’s no one trick pony.