A win's a win

Aireborough travelled to Halifax for their second game of the season in bolstered spirits following last week’s hard fought victory against Northallerton and an excellent turnout at both midweek training sessions.

Halifax v. Aireborough
Aireborough started the match brightly, taking the fight to Halifax and going through the phases on a deceptively hot afternoon in Halifax. The Aire pack soon began asserting their dominance over their larger counterparts in both the scrum and line-out which gave scrum half Tom Holdsworth and his backs plenty of early opportunities to stretch their legs.
The travelling fans didn’t have to wait too long for the first score, with Oscar Edwards crossing the try line out wide following a smart break from Nick Jackson to reward Aire pressure and Ryan Sample capped the score off with an excellent conversion. Aire doubled their lead shortly after with Johnny Mackey scoring from close range following a number of phases of possession in the Halifax ’22. Sample adding the additional 2 points from out wide again.
Aire should have kicked on and put the game out of sight but for some reason the Aire of early last season reared its ugly head – with ill-discipline, missed tackles and poor/no communication gifting Halifax easy yards and allowing them to apply sustained pressure in the Aireborough half which eventually resulted in an unconverted try for Halifax out wide.
The half ended with Aire on the attack having made good yards against a tiring Halifax pack but butchering an almost certain try following a strongly driven scrum which was knocked on with the try line within touching distance.

HT: Halifax 5 v. Aireborough 14
The second half was similar to the first half and akin to Sergio Leone’s classic starring Clint Eastwood – the good, the bad and, once Martyn Booth had entered the fray with five minutes remaining, the ugly.
The good stuff was Aireborough’s own Eastwood, front row Lewis, excellently converted a strong break from second row Richard Holmes and Sample, again, converting from out wide. On the few occasions when Aireborough clicked in the second half it would have been a joy to watch – good ball retention, racking-up of the phases, support runners and line breaks resulted in substitute Chris Chapman crossing the line for an unconverted try and Sample slotting over a penalty. Set plays continued to be strong with Aire winning all but one lineout and consistently disrupting the Halifax scrum and the fitness of the team showed toward the end of the match, as it did last week against Northallerton.
However, these occasions were few and far between. Aireborough were their own worst enemy at times – questionable decision making with players suffering from white line fever cost a try or two, as did over-confidence, usually immediately following an Aire try, with Aireborough attempting Barbarian-style champagne rugby on, at times, a lemonade budget – resulting in a number of knock-ons, loose carries and poor ball retention.
Then there was the ugly stuff – both Halifax tries in the second half were soft tries, both came through the middle of the park and both were fairly soon after Aireborough’s two tries which suggests a lack of concentration which needs to be rectified.

FT: Halifax 19 v. Aireborough 29
“That was a 6/10 performance but a win is a win” remarked Matt when the team huddled together at the end of another hard fought match and, upon reflection, he’s spot on. Aire turned it on for 20 minutes, played averagely for 40 minutes and the less said about the other 20 minutes – the better!
However, it says something about where Aireborough are as a team when we sit second in the league, with two wins out of two, and have ended both games feeling disappointed at both the performance and the score. If we can get out of third gear for more than 20 minutes each match then someone is going to get a real good hiding.
A big thanks to those that travelled to watch – I think we had as many supporters as Halifax did, your continued support is much appreciated.

Man of the Match
Richard Holmes.
Rod – I’m joking… Chunky’s performance in both set and open play made him a contender but the discussion in the clubhouse afterwards revolved around two players – Lewis Eastwood and Ryan Sample. We did decide on Ryan BUT he has since been disqualified as it was his birthday yesterday yet there was a notable lack of birthday beers in the changing room after the match!?
Well done Lewis Eastwood!