There’s life in the old wolf yet…
The wolf pack gives the students a lesson in wet weather rugby!
As the tail end of Storm Brian swept across Guiseley on Saturday morning, Aireborough Rugby hosted Leeds Medics and Dentists in what promised to be a great day of rugby, with many of the Aire old boys in attendance to celebrate Ex Players Day.
The conditions were perfect for Aire; with the strong wind, boggy pitch and the slope of Nunroyd park meaning the team with the best set piece would have greatest advantage. Medics, a team capable of playing some of the best “champagne rugby” in Yorkshire 3 would no doubt struggle in the torrential rain.
Aiming to capitalise on the momentum from last week’s win, Captain Ollie Catherall’s team talk was as on point as ever;
The game kicked off with Catherall drilling the ball deep into Medic’s half, allowing the forward to put in big hits early and make the medics 10 exit his own 22 with a strong wind.
After some sloppy play by both teams in the rain, Aire found themselves with a lineout deep in Medics territory and looked to come away with points. Great work by Bill Childs and Jonny Hiles at the lineout set up a driving maul which shifted towards the Medics try line – great timing and strength by Adam Jackson (fuelled by the best takeaway in the West-Leeds Area, Guiseley's own Pizza House) saw him power through 2 tackles to crash over for the first try under the sticks. 7-0
Despite the greasy conditions, Medics responded well, stringing several phases of play together. Shipping the ball from one side to the other they managed to take a quick lineout, through each of their back’s hands to score in the far corner, with winger Kris Brook coming off injured after a crunching cover tackle. 7-5
The wolf pack collected in the sticks to regroup. “We don’t Panic. We go back at them.”
With Stu Wilson’s hamstring causing him to pull out of the game 2 minutes into the warm up Catherall filled into 9 and did a great job marshalling the Aire pack, running solid crash balls through Si Hill, Martyn Booth and Adam Jackson whilst the remaining forwards provided clean ball through effective rucking.
After several crash balls, taking the Aire pack from the half way line deep into enemy territory, Adam Jackson (Sponsored by Pizza House) went over for his 2nd try of the game. 12-5
Whether it was the breeze blowing in our favour or the fear of Jug Avoidance (the punishment for scoring 2 tries instead of a hat trick, which requires buying the team a Jug of Beer) Adam Jackson caught the ball off the back of another well executed line out, smashed through the opposition defence, building up a head of steam to stroll in for his hattrick and a well-deserved rest on the bench (Sponsored by Pizza House) 19-5
If Leeds Medics thought they could have a rest with Jackson leaving the bench, they thought wrong as he was replaced by the equally physical Luke Exley, who carried on the same strong running game that had scored us 3 tries in 20 minutes. After 4 reset scrums on the Medics 5m line, Exley took a great ball from Catherall to bosh 2 Medics defenders and score a 4th try before half time. HT 24 – 5
The half time team talk was direct;
With those words in mind, Aire started off strong, Tony Clitheroe, Harley Stephenson-Cocks and Matty Jones all returning Medics kicking game with strong runs against a tough wind.
Not to be outdone by the strong start of the backs, the Aire forward took charge from a lineout in Medics half, with some strong forward carries by Rich Lister, and Luke Exley. The final straw was a rampaging Si Hill (NOT YET SPONSORED) that finished off a great passage of play. 29-5
With the weather managing to get even worse, the game seemed to break down even further, with Aire scoring a further two tries from crash balls via Luke Exley (NOT YET SPONSORED) and centre Liam Cree (Sponsored by Phil Knowles – who didn’t look out of place among the front row) 39 – 5
With injuries and niggles being picked up and a few of the forwards deserving a rest, Medics managed to creep into the game with 2 soft tries in the closing minutes the game finished 39-15 which I don’t think reflected Aire’s dominance and intelligence to play the conditions.
Head Coach Si Davies put things into perspective that to take 5 points from a strong Medics side and leave them going home with nothing – is a job well done in anyone’s books.
Man of the manage was a tough one this week, with Adam Jackson bagging 3 tries and Luke Exley 2, you think they’d almost be shoe ins for the weekly award. However with numerous strong carries, great marshalling in defence and one of the best shifts he’s produced in an Aireborough shirt, this week’s man of the match was a well deserved Rich Lister (Sponsored by Fire Investigations UK).
With a strong training session planned on Wednesday, Aireborough look to carry this momentum on to next weekend where they face newly promoted Skipton away.