Aireborough carry on where they left off

It’s horrible.

In fact it’s bloody awful.

I’m not talking about the rugby that was on display yesterday, nor the boggy Nunroyd pitch which zapped the legs after three weeks off and too much turkey, chocolate and beer.

I’m talking about the morphed beast that is Rich Hiles. Or is it Jonny Holmes? Exhibit A, your Honour, is illustrated above. Just what the deuce is that…!?

The morphing took place sometime in the first half, probably during a scrum as the two second row forwards locked arms and pumped legs in the engine room to drive the larger Otliensian pack backwards.

But let’s rewind and start at the beginning…

Aireborough welcomed local rivals Old Otliensians to Nunroyd Park on Saturday; looking to complete the double over them following the excellent 22-7 away victory earlier in the season. The Aireborough pack was shuffled following the 27-17 victory at Harrogate Pythons with Jonny Mackey returning from a knee injury after a successful run out with the Crusaders before Christmas, and Simon Davies starting in the front row after Captain Rich Lister failed a pre-match fitness test. The starting backs were unchanged, with Oscar Edwards making a cameo appearance on the bench before going back to that polytechnic college that pretends to be Bath Spa University.

In front of a large home crowd, with 40+ away supporters also in attendance, Aireborough started the first half playing down the hill; looking to pile on the points early doors and demoralise and deflate the larger (a.k.a. fatter) Otliensian squad.
Aireborough were soon ahead following early Otliensian ill-discipline which gave full back Nick Holdsworth an early shot at the posts. The ball sailed through the middle of the uprights to give Aireborough a 3-0 lead and put Nick on 40 points for the season; closing in on top points scorer Ryan Sample’s tally of 47.

Holdsworth drew level with Sample shortly after, albeit with a good deal of luck and a (giving the benefit of the doubt to the referee) blind-sighted referee, with a try in the corner following pressure from Aireborough. The Aireborough wolf pack, sensing blood, drew in covering defenders with a number of driving runs before the ball was spun wide by Stuart Wilson at scrum half – quick hands gave Nick Holdsworth space on the wing (robbing Rob Johnson of the chance for his third try of the season) and Nick used the space, and a good foot of the in-touch area, to maximum effect to score his first try of the season.

The relief on Nick’s face, knowing that the end-of-season naked lap had been avoided, was clear for all to see – one wonders how happy he’ll be when someone eventually shows him some love and sponsors him…!? Given there’s only half the season left I’m sure someone with eagle eyesight that comes from professional eye care, such as the fantastic team at The Optical Shop in Yeadon (http://www.opticaid.net/content.php?_p_=7), could find a loop hole in the small print of the sponsorship contracts and make nickjackson0@hotmail.co.uk an offer he can’t refuse?

Holdsworth added the additional two points from the touchline to increase Aireborough’s lead to 10-0 after 20 minutes.
Aireborough plugged away for another five minutes or so after the restart but were unable to increase their lead. The scrum was strong, forcing Otliensians on the back foot, and the Aireborough line out, whilst occasionally misfiring on its own throw, caused enough disruption to Old Otliensians that quick ball was not forthcoming.

Something happened at the 25 minute mark which resulted in a swing of the direction in play – although I have no idea what caused it… Maybe Aireborough took their foot off the gas; maybe Otliensians woke up – maybe a combination of the two? Whatever the cause, Otliensians proceeding to spend the final 15 minutes of the first half camped in the Aireborough ’22. Otliensians runners were put on their arses by strong tackles; space was covered with good comms and the guys worked tirelessly to cover their team mates. Aireborough were showing why they have the meanest defence in the league with big hits from Simon Davies, Luke Exley, Christopher Chapman and the thing that is Rich Hiles.

As Aireborough began to tire in the face of the, at times, relentless onslaught from Otliensians the penalty count began creeping up. Penalties were kicked into the corner but the resulting mauls and attacks were defended excellently. The more Otliensians ran at the home defence, the harder they were hit and the further they were pushed back. But the penalties kept coming and on either the eighth or ninth, with Aireborough balancing on a disciplinary tightrope and the clock hitting the 47th minute, Otliensians took an easy shot at goal to reduce the deficit to 10-3 and bring the first half to a close.

HT: Aireborough 10 v Old Otliensians 3

Matt’s message at half time was short and sweet – cut out the penalties and, more importantly, get the first score in the second half. Another score would put Otliensians to bed given how the first half ended – all that territory and possession yet only a meagre three points to show for it.

It didn’t quite go to plan.

Otliensians, playing downhill, were straight on the attack and Aireborough were soon on the back foot and in their ’22, conceding yet more penalties. The referee’s patience was tested once too often and, after playing a quick game of eeny, meeny, miny, moe, cited Stuart Wilson as the culpable offender and gave him a 10 minute rest on the side-line. Otley, still smarting from their unsuccessful attacks at the end of the first half, played safe and opted for another easy 3 points to reduce the deficit to just 10-6.

I could be lazy and just re-write the majority of the above paragraph to cover the next five minutes of play as that’s essentially what happened – Aireborough, down to 14 men, were on the back foot again and fly half Ollie Catherall was sin-binned following further ill-discipline to reduce Aireborough to just 13 men. And yet, Otliensians could not find a way through the wall of maroon. With Simon Davies and Christopher Chapman leading the forwards, Aireborough turned over ball and proceeded to play tight rugby which ran the clock down. Stuart Wilson returned to the fray and Aireborough were pushing Otliensians back up the slope.

Aireborough were soon in the Otliensians half, still a man down (not that you’d have guessed watching the match) but swarming all over the pitch. Turnovers were coming thick and fast as Aireborough’s superior fitness told and Jonny Mackey, much like his sponsor Retro Spectacle (https://www.retrospectacle.co.uk/), was turning back the years, looking cool and crashing over like a Tank (a.k.a his other sponsor, Dave Greenwood) for a well-deserved try. This was Jonny’s first 1XV game since injuring his knee back at Old Mods in October. Nick Holdsworth, as ever, was cool and collected in slotting over the conversion to increase Aireborough’s lead to 17-6.

Ollie Catherall, well rested, returned to the pitch to bring Aire back up to the full complement of 15 players.

What followed shortly after was a work of supreme beauty. Think Pamela Anderson in Baywatch running in slow motion. Or for the more classy reader, think of the Sistine Chapel or an ancient Greek sculpture.

It was reminiscent of JJ Williams scoring for the Lions in South Africa in 1974 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttFRYKPLdmo).

A try which ticked every box. Quick hands – tick. Speed and footwork – tick. Selfless play – tick. Support running – tick.

It all started on half way, Aireborough went left from a rook and you could see from the side-line that it was on. There was a slight overlap which was fully exploited by Christopher Chapman, passing to Bill Child who, in turn, released Nick Jackson. Chunky confused everyone by passing (yes that’s right – passing) to Thomas Copsey before taking a return pass and then slipping the pill to Nick Holdsworth who set Ollie Catherall, kindly sponsored by Michael Schofield, free to score a sensational team try. I’ve not done it justice – I think you had to be there to see it. If only we had a camera man to record each game…

Nick Holdsworth showed that he is human by hitting the post with his conversion to keep the score at 22-6 to Aireborough. There were only 10 minutes to go and the game seemed won – what was needed was another try for a bonus point.

Otliensians, to their credit, continued to battle hard during the final 10 minutes and the hard running full back was the beneficiary of some tired Aireborough tackling with 5 minutes to go as he evaded a number of flailing arms to score a converted try under the posts. The lead was too much to overhaul and the task facing Aireborough hadn’t changed – get the fourth try!

Aireborough were aided in their quest for a fourth try when Otley were reduced to 14 players after a forearm/elbow smash to Ollie Catherall’s head during an attempted tackle. Nick Holdsworth pumped the ball long in the Otley half and wolf pack summoned what energy was left in the legs to give it one last push to get the ball over the line. Aireborough forced a couple of 5m scrums as they pressed for the final score and from one such scrum, a well worked backs move saw Oscar Edwards come in off his wing to take crash ball and dive over the line. The bonus point was secure and Nick Holdsworth converted the try with the final kick of the game.

FT: Aireborough 29 v Old Otliensians 13.

Given this was the first game back after Christmas this was a good, solid performance which delivered a big W. Aireborough season, and potential push for promotion, may well be determined by what happens over the next two weeks – two tough away fixtures at promotion hunting Castleford and Goole. Both venues have not been kind to Aireborough in recent years and if some ghosts can be laid to rest, two big obstacles may have been hurdled as the season begins to wind down and get to the business end.

Man of the match
There were a number of standout performances on Saturday. Simon Davies continues to defy science by playing 80 minutes with only one knee and no back, the back row combo of Bill Child, Christopher Chapman, Luke Exley and Adam Jackson were everywhere. Richard Holmes was great as always. Cal Lister had his best game in an Aireborough shirt following his big* money move from Old Mods in the summer. However Rob Johnson was singled out for his tiresome effort on the wing, taking one for the team and doing a great job substituting for the injured Kris Brook.

*the transfer fee was officially undisclosed but close examination of the accounts show 10p unaccounted for – with the exception of paying for Ollie Catherall’s and Will Warrington’s train fares from University, this could be the largest transfer fee in Aire’s history.

Rob is sponsored by Pharmacy 2 U (https://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/). They are the UK’s #1 Online Pharmacy. They currently have a sale on of up to 50% off everything in their big January sale. Fragrances, toiletries, skincare, online medications and prescriptions – you name it, they do it!
Just get yourselves there and you’ll soon be looking, and smelling, as good as Mr Johnson himself!!
(Disclaimer – they are not plastic surgeons or miracle workers so if you look like Shrek then there’s not much they can do for you – but you will smell nice!)