Aire 36 - 12 Baildon

Saturday’s game saw two sides struggling for form of late meet for the first of this year’s Aire/Baildon derby games, and while in recent years these have been tight affairs, Saturday proved anything but.

Front foot ball from lineout and maul saw the ball shipped to Nick Holdsworth whose smart footwork saw him score early.

Shortly after some nice handling in Aire’s backline saw Matty Jones put Ollie Catherall in for the score, Nick Holdsworth converting from the right touchline. 12-0.

Aire piled on the pressure and two Jonny Mackey tries (proudly sponsored by Dave Greenwood) before half time made it 24-0.

The second half saw a further four tries, with a Catherall interception initially taking Aire’s lead out to 31-0.

Baildon hit back with a maul from 10m out following a string of infringements from Aire to allow the visitors to gain easy yards.

The next Aire score came from Lewis Eastwood (not yet sponsored-please contact Rich Lister if you’re interested in sponsorship opportunities) finishing off a move which started with a back row playing 9, a front row chipping into the corner, and a good defensive press forcing the Baildon fullback to run sideways (a familiar sight during the afternoon) into oncoming defenders. Turnover ball allowed backs and forwards to combine with slick hands down the left hand side for a quality team score.

Baildon had the last say though and a chip through resulted in Aire losing the foot race. Final score 36-12.

MoM: There were some notable performances, including second rows Alan Justham, Bill Child and Jonny Hiles (sponsored by Large), Mackey bagging yet another brace and Catherall marshalling excellently from scrum half inside a back line that looked dangerous all afternoon. And up front, the standout man earning himself MoM was Lewis Eastwood, providing a platform in set piece and aggressive around the park, his work rate was outstanding.

Brown ale: not content with taking one award this week, the Stu Wilson award went to Lewis Eastwood for getting put on his backside by the smallest lad on the park.

Bill Marshall's account of the afternoon can be found here.

Next week the 1st XV travel to Hemsworth for the last away game before the Christmas break, 2.15pm ko.