Morley 33 v Aire 38

Both teams entered this "friendly" on the back of limited pre season preparations; however meetings between these teams are fiercely contested . In recent seasons games have often been close, but Morley have a ruthless streak and invariably turned out victorious. Aire had a host of established players not available, but welcomed new recruits Alex Currie and Jamie Pedley to the team sheet. Aire's captain Eddie Farnell set the tone from arrival in the changing room and set the standard that only 100% effort and commitment would be acceptable.

Morley's kick off was fielded and the first carry was hit by a rock solid maroon defence. Aire cleaned the ruck and effectively recycled to the right hand pod. Yards were hard fought and shuddering collisions could be heard from the stands. The pods attracted defenders and Aire spotted that Morley were narrow on the left side. The ball was whipped across the back line, but Morley scrambled and slowed the attack down with a ruck forming. The recipient was returning flanker Ethan Heede who clattered into the defenders, but was just sopped short of the line; however Felix Kraam was in support and dived over in the corner for the first score. Full back Jack Dawson had a cracking day off the tee and slotted the conversion to put Aire 7 points up.

The restart went deep and was gathered and a smart kick turned Morley and led to a lineout, which proved to be a continued source of good ball for the hosts. There were some heavy exchanges around the half way, with neither team asking or giving a quarter. Aire were sharp over the ball with likes of Callum Diamond, Eddie Farnell and Tommy Rollinson a constant thorn at the ruck. A turn over led to the ball being shipped to the left again, where Jamie Pedley ran hard and fast down the left, but was denied a debut score by a last gasp tackle. The ball was snaffled by Morley, who shipped the ball out left and raced down the field to score a sucker punch try to equalise.This try was against momentum and further pressure was applied and Morley were next on the score sheet to take the lead. Previous Aire teams have crumbled in similar circumstances, but skipper Eddie Farnell was in no mood for this to happen on his watch. Aire took advantage of some uncharacteristic sloppy defending and scored the next.

A solid drive from the restart gave Aire ground & scrum half Danyal Aslam so space on the left. He fizzed the ball to stand off Harvey Sellers who saw that the defence had rushed up and his measured dink over the top was caught on the hoof by centre Joe Priestley. Joe sensed 2 defenders homing in and another neat chip caused chaos. Joe's pressure caused the ball to be coughed up and Eddie Farnell raced in under the sticks to put Aire in front by 7 points at the break.

The early stages of the second half saw Aire applying pressure with forwards Tom Rudd carrying hard to get over the gain line. Usual winger Gus Smith had been drafted into the pack and had an absolute blinder. He was at home doing the dirty work as well as using his pace and power and was unlucky not to score from a solo run over 30 metres. Aire had a series of punishing drives on within Morley's 5m line and the defence was finally breached with the ball millimetres over the whitewash.

With a healthy lead Aire were guilty of some complacency, which coupled with fatigue opened up space for Morley's speedsters who scored 2 tries in 5 minutes to take a 33-31 lead. The physicality and heat had taken it's toll and it was agreed that only 5 further minutes would be played. The writing was on the wall for Aire when Morley broke left and they looked certain to score; however Alex Currie did an amazing job to shepherd 2 attackers out wide and a last ditch tackle hauled the ball carrier down 10m out. Harvey Sellers got over the ball and affected what appeared to be a text book jackal, but the decision was given the other way as penalty to Morley. The kick was sliced and gathered up by Aire who attacked left and it looked as if Morley had turned the ball over, but again the ref saw it differently to Aire's relief. A tap penalty found speedster Felix Kraam, who scorched down the left pursued by 3 defenders. Felix made it to within 15m and showed great strength to stay on his feet long enough for the cavalry to clear out the ruck. The ball found the skipper who scythed through the broken field to score under the sticks and Jack Dawson didn't disappoint off the tee.This was to be the final play and at the whistle both teams were out on their feet having played in a compelling and brutal encounter.

All of the lads in the Aire team put in a shift and were worthy of player of the match. Tom Ayrton was a colossus both with and without the ball and his team mates in the pack all contributed significantly. The back line clicked, with Danyal and Harvey making smart decisions to release the likes of Joe and Jamie. The team performed due to the leadership of their captain who led by example from start to finish, so Eddie Farnell get the nod for MOM.

Next Sunday Aire travel to Pocklington for their first league game.