Pythons charmed by Holdsworth’s tune

Aireborough made a number of changes to the squad that beat Halifax last week with Christopher Chapman, son of Aire stalwart and Yorkshire Rugby bigwig Jim, making a full debut in the back row and backs Iain Craven and Aire’s latest Canadian import James Patterson moving up from the Crusaders following good performances last week.

Aireborough v. Harrogate Pythons
Aireborough made hard work of the first half against a spirited, but rarely dangerous, Python team and the game could, and probably should, have been over by half time. Stu Wilson set the tone early on with a blistering line break but was high tackled by the last defender which, on another day, may have resulted in a sin-binning and/or penalty try. Aireborough took the lead shortly after following a scrum and subsequent blind side break from number 8 and human fridge, Adam Jackson, and Mr Happy, Jonny Mackey, which was well converted by the Bath University-bound Oscar Edwards.
Aireborough continued to apply pressure but were unable to turn possession and territory into points with two tries disallowed for double movements, the first from fly half Ryan Sample and the second from scrum half Tom Holdsworth, and a mixture of poor ball retention and resolute Harrogate defence keeping Aire at bay.
Harrogate reduced the deficit with a penalty kick and Aire were reduced to 14 men following the sin-binning of Chapman for a tip tackle with five minutes to half time. Harrogate made their numerical advantage count, albeit with a good deal of fortune, as a kick through by their fly half deceived prop Lewis Eastwood in the in-goal area with a wicked bounce which was pounced upon by a Harrogate player.

HT: Aireborough 5 v. Harrogate Pythons 8
With their ears ringing from Matt and Si’s half time team talk (a.k.a bollocking); Aire started the second half brightly in what would be a ding-dong of a second half which would eventually be won 23-10. Second row Richard Holmes and Edwards disrupted a Harrogate ruck in the Aire half and both chased after the Edwards hack down field which made its way into the Harrogate in-goal area. The Python full-back had an absolute ‘mare, tripping himself up and fluffing his lines which gifted Edwards a second try – even more fortunate given his legs were halfway to the changing rooms in touch but the referee missed this as he awarded the try from somewhere near half way. Sample’s conversion was successful, via the crossbar, as Aire took the lead 12-8.
Aire took their foot off the gas and let Harrogate into the game, with the Python’s scoring two unconverted tries in a 10 minute period, sandwiching a Sample penalty, as Aire threatened to undo all of the hard work of pre-season and the past few weeks as they trailed 15-18 entering the last quarter of the game.
Aire needed to raise their game and it was Holdsworth who came to the rescue; grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck with tactical kicking and sound decision making giving Aire much needed territory in which to apply pressure to the Harrogate line. Debutant Patterson crossed for a well worked try and Holdsworth crossed the line himself following a rolling maul as Aire snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Sample was unable to convert either try but did slot a penalty with the last kick of the game to deny Harrogate a losing bonus point.

FT: Aireborough 28 v. Harrogate Pythons 18
In summing up the match I’m in danger of beginning to sound like a broken record (although it makes the match reports easier to write as I can just regurgitate the same prose each week).
When Aire turn it on, which we did for about 20/25 minutes during this match, we look good. The forwards secured good ball at set pieces and the ball was thrown about with confidence and accuracy to release the backline of Kris Brook, Ollie Catherall and Edwards to make big yards.
However there is still work to do. I can’t remember seeing many Little-and-Large runs and the Aire of yesteryear are still evident with one-up-running and ball being lost at the breakdown. This will continue to be worked on at training and we’re looking to get another 50 at training this week over the two sessions for the third week in a row. Rich Lister and Iain Craven are both encouraged to get to training to work on their passing – although I use the term ‘passing’ in the loosest possible sense.

Man of the Match
Well, it didn’t take long for management to work out that leaving the Man of the Match decision to me whilst writing the match report would result in a whitewash of awards to me! In the post-game huddle Matt highlighted the match winning control and tactics of Holdsworth during the last 15 minutes to see Aireborough to victory. Well played Tom Holdsworth, pictured above roughing up a dwarf from last season, (and everyone else!).