Aireborough win ugly

The brave and hearty thirty or so Aireborough supporters who watched the match on Saturday at Nunroyd Park deserve a big WELL DONE and an even bigger THANK YOU for bearing with the team through 80 minutes of honest, hard rugby as the two sides slugged it out in weather and mud similar to that which brought the Great War to a standstill in 1916. I’m sure all that were there would agree that the final ten minutes were well worth the coldness, wetness and general horribleness of the November weather!?

Aireborough v. Wensleydale

Aireborough welcomed Wensleydale to Nunroyd Park for the first contest between these two sides since records began (or when I started playing approx. 4 years ago). Aireborough, who had made a number of changes from the previous week, were looking to bounce back from last week’s narrow defeat to table topping Knottingley; whilst Wensleydale were aiming to arrest a slump in league position which had left them just two places off the bottom of the division.

The toss of the referee’s coin was either won or lost (I don’t know which) and Aireborough were playing down the slope in the first half; looking to build up a big lead favourably playing the pitch and conditions as Autumn turned to Winter and a few snowflakes began to fall. The shrill of the whistle was as sharp as Thomas Copsey’s wit – a ball was kicked, a ball was caught, a tackle was made and the latest episode of the Aireborough soap opera had begun.

As the snow turned to rain, and then the clouds began to hail, the supporters themselves hailed Adam Jackson rampaging through a seemingly weak ‘Dale midfield before being brought down by the covering fullback – Aireborough were on the ascendancy early on and it bode well for a Stocksbridge-style score line. Or so it seemed… as ‘Dale dug deep and then matched Aireborough in open play; sticking the ball up their jumpers and playing 8-man rugby, testing the Aireborough guard defence in and around mauls and rucks.

As Nunroyd Park (or ‘the bog’ as it is described on certain website forums) began cutting up, so did the play as cold and numb hands struggled to hold on to wind affected passes; resulting in a number of scrum restarts. The Aireborough pack, whilst certainly not dominant, won a number of scrums against the head and was successful with line out ball (and spoilt/nicked a few of theirs).

Following another study scrum, fly-half Ryan Sample found space with a clearing kick and invited the ‘Dale covering full-back and winger to give it a go against the advancing wall of Aireborough kick chasers…

Twenty seconds later, Aireborough were under their own sticks, 0-5 down following a strong run from the full-back which showed the Aire defence a clean pair of heels, before drawing Ollie Catherall and off-loading to the supporting winger. The conversion was bang in front of the uprights and Aire found themselves 0-7 down after 20 minutes.

Following another ten minutes of similar rugby, with both sets of forwards arm-wrestling it out in the mud and rain, Aireborough made a number of changes and brought on Lewis Eastwood and the returning Richard Holmes (which probably* resulted in the largest cheer of the day) into the fray as impact subs on the half hour.

*definitely did not

Twenty seconds later, Aireborough were under their own sticks, now 0-12 down following a catch and drive lineout in the Aire ‘22m. Not quite the impact Matt and Si were hoping for! The conversion, out wide, was short and Aireborough ended the half on the up but were unable to turn possession and territory into points as Ryan Sample missed a late penalty to leave Aireborough 12-0 down at half time and Wensleydale cheering and congratulating each other like they’d just won the Cup.

HT: Aireborough 0 v. Wensleydale 12

With the encouraging words of Matt and Si sitting softly in their ears, and veteran Nick Holdsworth being dragged from the relative warmth of the bench (and the five or six layers he had donned) to play fly-half as Ryan Sample was moved to 12 in a shuffle of the backs, Aireborough started the second half on the offensive and looking to score some early points.

They didn’t.

But more importantly, neither did Wensleydale, as the sides were locked in a three way battle against each other and the elements and, again – reminiscent of Groundhog Day – became bogged down in midfield with the forwards roughing it out. Nick Jackson’s nose was the first casualty of the second half (before and after pictures above), and big Simon Davies was brought on as a replacement to add some size and experience as Heidi tried her best to patch him up and check the Leeds City Council employee for concussion – for those of you who have tried to get any sense from the Council you will know this is an almost impossible task as they all talk gibberish (or don’t answer the phone, but that’s for another day!). Either way, Heidi deemed him fit to return to battle and ten minutes later he had returned to the pitch.

Twenty seconds later, Chunky was preparing to throw the ball into a lineout deep in the Wensleydale ‘22m following a touch finding penalty kick from Nick Holdsworth. The ball was secured and the driving maul was set in motion with the ball fed to the back of the maul into the hands of Nick Jackson (kindly sponsored by The Furniture Clinic - https://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/) who, as chief beneficiary to the change in maul laws this season, gratefully touched the ball down once the maul had been driven over the try line. Nick Holdsworth added to the additional two points and it was game on – 7-12 down with ten minutes to go!

With their tails up, Aire collected the restart and began marching up the hill toward the ‘Dale line. With the energy zapped by the boggy terrain, each yard gained was a battle of attrition as Wensleydale battled to secure them that much needed victory. As the match entered the final five minutes Aireborough pressure resulted in a ‘Dale knock-on and gave Aire a scrum, near the ‘Dale ’22m with a big blind side. The scrum held firm and the legendary ‘Stacker’ move was called, creating an overlap on the blind side and finally giving speed merchant Kris Brook (kindly sponsored by VANBAR - http://www.vanbarassociates.com/, Cannon Garden Services - http://www.cannongardenservices.co.uk/ and GMex Construction) some open field to run in. He outpaced his opposite man and dived into the corner to draw the team’s level at 12 all. Cometh the hour, cometh the man as Nick Holdsworth beautifully converted the try with a majestic swing of his left peg from far out wide. Aire were 14-12 up with just four minutes remaining.

The plan was simple, gather the restart, run a lot of bullsh*t ball to run down the clock and then kick it out of play. #Simples!

Aireborough being Aireborough, however, it didn’t quite go to plan. The fridge Adam Jackson knocked on the restart and gave ‘Dale good field position and, more importantly, possession of the ball. Excellent defence and discipline from Aireborough, however, kept Wensleydale at bay with Adam Jackson putting his body on the line to make up for his error – ably supported by some hard hits from Simon Davies, Christopher Chapman, Lewis Eastwood and Martyn Booth. It was from one such hard hit that the ball was spilled by a Wensleydale player and recovered by Ollie Catherall who was able to clear the ball to touch and bring the game to an end.

As the brave (mad?) band of supporters headed for the warmth of the clubhouse and a medicinal brandy, Aire clapped the unfortunate ‘Dale players through the tunnel before heading to the showers for a rendition of Gold to celebrate an undeserved victory.

HT: Aireborough 14 v. Wensleydale 12

Man of the Match
There were a number of good performances on Saturday. In the forwards, Nick Jackson, Adam Jackson, Christopher Chapman and big Simon Davies put bodies on the line with some tough tackling and in the backs Nick ‘the difference’ Holdsworth won the game and steadied the ship, with Kris Brook and Ollie Catherall putting in strong supporting performances. However, after the match Matt singled out the performance of scrum half Stuart Wilson as pivotal to this victory. Granted he tried to make the match as interesting as possible by having at least half of his kicks charged down but he also ran the show and directed both the forwards and backs in difficult conditions.

Stu is currently looking for a player sponsor. Sponsorship starts from just £50 for an entire season and comes with a number of advertising perks and will reach hundreds of local families and businesses. Please contact Nick Jackson (nickjackson0@hotmail.co.uk) for more information.