SCARBOROUGH DEFEND A FIRST HALF SCRUM

OLD RISHWORTHIANS 32 SCARBOROUGH 34

By DAVE CAMPBELL

Scarborough bagged a fourth consecutive bonus-point with an amazing late comeback at Old Rishworthians.

The Seasiders played into the teeth of a gale force wind blowing down the Calder valley and saw themselves trailing 7-15 after half an hour courtesy of four penalties and a drop-goal from Rishworthians fly-half Josh Kelly all wind-assisted efforts either from the half-way line or inside his own half. A try from No8 Ben Martin converted by Tom Ratcliffe had briefly given the visitors a 7-6 lead after six minutes.

Scarborough were looking to get to the break without further upset but gifted Rishworthians scrum-half Gary Morris an interception try in the 36^th minute which Kelly converted for 22-7. Coach Simon Smith’s charges stuck to their task and following a period of pressure on the home line Ratcliffe powered over and converted himself to reduce the arrears to eight points at the break.

With the wind behind them in the second half Scarborough really looked like they meant business and scored within a minute of the re-start when Ben Martin went over for his second touchdown to peg the home side back at 22-19; however some slick handling into the wind by ‘Rish’ saw Morris go over in the 46^th minute. Kelly converted and added a penalty five minutes later for a 32-19 Rishworthians lead.

Scarborough heads never went down and Martin went over to clinch a hat-trick in the 66^th minute and reduce the lead to 32-24.

BEN MARTIN RAN IN A HAT-TRICK OF TRIES AT OLD RISHWORTHIANS

With time running out and Scarborough battering away at the home line Ratcliffe kicked a close-range penalty to earn what would have been a losing bonus point for his side. However the Seasiders secured the ball from Rishworthians re-start and moved up-field in injury time. A half-break in the middle saw centre Bill Parker break several tackles and stretch out to level the scores between the posts. And Ratcliffe completed a remarkable turnaround with the conversion for 34-32 and the celebrations commenced.

A magnificent effort from Mikey Whitton saw the young prop named man of the match.

MAN OF THE MATCH: MIKEY WHITTON

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