Yorks Bowl win for Aire at Scarborough

Scarborough 7 v Aire 44

On Remembrance Sunday Aire travelled to the East Coast to face Scarborough in the first round of the Yorkshire Bowl.

The game was proceeded by an immaculately observed minutes silence in memory of all those who had sacrificed so much.

Scarborough were an unknown quantity; however Aire’s pre match focus s was sharp and there was a feeling that they had the firepower to get the job done.

Aire were recipients of the kick off and faced the slight slope & breeze in the first half. The opening exchanges were keenly contested, with neither team initially gaining the upper hand. Scarborough had a big pack & looked to have the edge in the scrummage. At the first couple of scrums, the hosts put the nudge on making no 8 Joe & scrum half Elliot work overtime to secure their own ball.

The line out however provided a source of good ball, with Aire’s frint jumper Tommy Rollinson nicking a couple of arrows against the throw. This provided a platform and Aire used their pods to work their way up field, but Scarborough were up quick in defence & space out wide was limited. Stand off Harvey Sellers capitalised on a rush defence & dinked a neat kick over the top, but in the process was duly flattened & took a shoulder knock during the attempted charge down.

Scarborough cleared their lines, but Aire came back and again worked their way onto opposition turf. In form scrum half Eliot Bunn was making smart decisions & mixing it up by using big runners like hooker Tom Rudd to punch holes & then going wide. Aire were awarded a scrum 15m out and after a couple of phases, power house no8 Matt Tindale bludgeoned his way over for the opening score.

From the restart Aire once again utilised their pods to gain good metres. The ball broke to the right & Sammy Woodley’s precise kick was regathered by Joe Priestley, who dotted down for Aire’s 2nd score.

Scarborough decided to go long at the next restart and via a deflection the ball found flying left wing Felix Kraam. The defence was again up quickly, but they were left chasing shadows by an impressive change of pace by Felix as he scorched in field. The next phase of play was sublime, with precise interplay involving Felix, Sammy & Lewis Rudd Watson beating the covering defence, resulting in another try for Sammy.

Scarborough knew they had to hit back, but were probably guilty for playing too much rugby in their own danger areas. The well drilled Aire pack began to take a strangle hold on the game & provide more comfortable ball for the half backs.

From 22m out quick ruck ball found Harvey Sellers, who split the defence with a trademark show & go. With the last defender closing in, Harvey’s inside ball found the rampaging Mason Cliff, who was not going to be denied a try, which this time was converted.

Front row replacent Finn Eastcott gathered the restart and showed good pace & power to make 15 yards. Scarborough infringed at the breakdown & the penalty kick was pumped into corner. There was an uncharacteristic line out error, but Aire’s powerful pack managed to regain the ball from a turn over at the scrum. The defence was narrow and Harvey saw space & centre Josh Wood loitering on the left. The cross field kick was gathered by Josh and in the blink of an eye the flamboyant salmon pink boots were over the whitewash.

Aire hit their straps and were hungry in both attack & defence. With 10 mins of the first half remaining, the bench was unleashed & fresh legs looked to keep up the momentum. Returning prop Vaughan Reeves had a point to make & epitomised the effort of the team with a bullocking run & muscular finish. Tom Ayrton came in for impressive skipper Jonny Ivory, who was withdrawn after feeling the effects of a bang.

Aire had been relentless & It had been one way traffic for portions of the first half. The “tide” would turn & in the last 5 minutes it was the home side who would test Aire’s defensive resolve. Scarborough went through the phases from 10m out and were camped on Aire’s line. It was desperate defence, but a series of shuddering hits by the line of Calum Diamond, Joe Priestley, Tom Ayton & Matt Tindale kept Scarborough at bay. Aire were relieved for half time & went into the sheds 32-0 up. Crucially the pack was reshuffled due injury to Matt Tindale.

Scarborough clearly had some quality players & they came out fired up in the 2nd half. Aire’s kicking game turned the hosts around and again field position was established within the home team’s 22.

Aire had a scrum 10 m out and tsunami probably wouldn’t have prevented Joe Priestley from scoring.

Scarborough were game opponents and were desperate to get on the score sheet, but unfortunately handling errors cost them in crucial areas of the field. Aire seized upon the mistakes & replacement scrum half Spencer Wood’s attention was again brought to the salmon pink boots out wide. The pass was perfectly weighted & Josh Wood cut through a gap to score his 2nd.

The game was gone, but Scarborough showed great spirt & resolve to pick themselves up and get some ball in Aire territory. Their execution was now much improved & now it was their turn show how dangerous they could be with the ball in hand. Aire were narrow & a missed tackle was punished with a very well taken try.

The game finished 44-7 to Aire; however this was by no means one sided & Scarborough were much more in the contest than the scoreline suggests.

This was probably Aire’s best performance of the season, with all 20 lads standing up & putting in a shift. On a day that went so well, It’s hard to single out individual player performances. Forwards Eddie Farnell, Calum Diamond, Mason Cliff & Vaughan Reeves had solid games. The half backs & midfield went well & it was great to see fit again wing Gus Smith fitting in seemlessly with the back 3. Lewis Rudd Watson was typically abrasive & Jack Dawson was faultless throughout. There were some close calls, but the opposition coaches got it spot on nominating Joe Priestley & Sammy Woodley for the joint MOM award.

Special mention to the referee who was excellent throughout & also thanks to Scarborough for being fabulous hosts.

Aire have a local derby at home against Ilkley this Sunday & the staring team is likely to contain lads who will be chomping at the bit to make an impression.