Clinical Rishworthian's sink Aire in season opener

Aire knew that they would be in for an epic battle at Rishworthian's, but their preparation was dented by last minute unavailability to several key players and captain Jonny Ivory. The match day squad did however include the returning Mason Cliffe and new signing Matt Tindale, who were both bound to add power to the forward pack. The team were led by Eddie Farnell, who reverted to hooker in the re-shuffled pack.

Aire were the recipients of the kick off and the high ball was neatly taken and taken into contact. Aire recycled and scrum half Freddie Pullan distributed to a series of runners all of which were halted in solid tackles. Using one out runners, Aire were finding ground difficult to make and it was clear that Rish were very organised in defence. Rish soaked up the runners and were then awarded a penalty for failing to release.

Rish found good field position and were soon camped on Aire's line, but Aire too were aggressive in the tackle and held out to clear their lines. This was temporary relief and Rish came back with menace and scored the opener. Aire's scrum and lineout were a cause for concern and led to possession being turned over in good field positions. This put Aire on the back foot and Rish capitalised on this turn over ball and scored further tries as a result. Ethan Heede looked dangerous with the ball, but unfortunately on several occasions he did not have support and the ball was turned over.

Despite being several tries down, Aire came back at Rish and a series of muscular drives led by Joe Priestley, Matt Tindale, Mason Cliffe and Calum Diamond punched holes in the defensive line. Frddie Pullan noticed space out right and passed to stand off Harvey Sellers, who fed Lewis Rudd Watson on the wing. Lewis had plenty to do, but used his power and pace to fend 2 defenders and score in the corner. Josh Wood's new and rather flamboyant footwear did the trick and he nailed a sweet conversion.

Aire went in at half time chasing a significant lead, but the lads knew they needed to fix their set piece and they were focused on improvement. Aire unleashed the bench of Ollie Flaxman, Ollie Nicholson, Jack Dawson & Gus Smith , all of which were hungry to impress and provided impetus from the start. Aire's defence was solid, but a neat kick fell kindly to the chasing player who raced in from 40 metres.

Aire's scrum was shored up and Ollie Flaxman, Tom Rudd and Mason Cliffe battled hard to provide a steady platform. Aire had a scrum 45 metres out and the ball was whipped to Harvey Sellers, who stood up his opponent with a sublime show and go. Josh Wood was on hand to receive the pass and he scorched in from distance to score in the corner. Aire were beginning to play more cohesively and began to string multiple phases of play together.

A series of drives by Eddie Farnell, Ollie Nicholson and Haydon Pickett set up quick ball. FreddieFizzed the ball to Harvey, who threw a 20 m miss pass to Jack Higgings, who caught it on the hoof. He hared down the touch line and looked to be through, but somehow lost his footing and the tumble allowed the defence to regroup and slow the move down.

Aire were growing in confidence and second row Tommy Rollinson received a pass and he scythed his way through several would be tacklers. He was eventually caught, but offloaded to Mason who made further yards before he was hauled down. The ball went through the back line and reached Lewis Rudd Watson, who straightened up and took 2 defenders over the line with him to score with the last play of the game.

The scoreline may suggest a heavy defeat; however Aire can be pleased with passages of their play. This team is still gelling and will only improve with practice and game time. Aire need to cut down errors, be more organised in defence and work harder to support the ball carrier.

There were some stand out performances, most notably from Joe Priestley, Matt Tindale, Tom Rudd , Mason Cliffe and man of the match Lewis Rudd Watson.