York played host to bottom of the league West Park Leeds today hoping to make it four wins out of four for 2016. Although West Park have struggled this season in Yorkshire One, last week they beat third place Hullensians. So needed to be given the respect they deserve.

York played uphill in the first half but had the strong (albeit very chilly) wind at their backs. The visitors started brightly and from a penalty used their lineout to catch and drive into York’s 22. York seemed to be spurred on by these early exchanges and dominated the first half. Marcus Britland was in bristling form and gave York excellent momentum from the base of the scrum. As York moved up field, another scrum launched the first attack to result in points. The ball was moved quickly from the scrum and through hands to winger Dunlop who scored out wide. The conversion missed, York were 5 – 0 up. Fly half Hessay had a second opportunity at goal minutes later as West Park gave away a penalty for going offside, this time he was on target as York stretched their lead to 8 – 0.

From the ensuing restart York managed to thwart a West Park attack by stealing the ball at the breakdown and kicking to clear. The visitors duly kicked back and York’s full-back Davies caught and distributed the ball with ease. York rumbled forward and drew another penalty as West Park were deemed to have infringed at the breakdown again. The quick tap was taken (at odds with the cries to slow down the game by the York coach!) and shipped to the right flank again. Again Dunlop was willing and able to finish the move, this time showing an excellent turn of pace in bagging his brace. Hessay, who clearly had found his range converted from out wide to move the score on to 15 – 0.

York played with good intensity for the next 15 minutes and were unlucky not to add to the score. Britland, Fox and Rutherford making good ground in the tight and Newitt showing some excellent running lines in the wider channels. It was Newitts pace and classy running that not only took him away from the West Park defenders but also his support. If a long looping pass after a 30 meter run had found a team mate, York would have been over the whitewash again. York slowed the pace down and camped on West Parks line, Peace being the first to be held up. A series of scrums with York in ascendancy eventually resulted in the third try as York stole against the head and pushed over for Britland to dab down. Hessay added the extra’s to make in 22 – 0.

The bonus point was added before the first half concluded with an excellent backs move making 40 metres and Gareth Singleton, playing on the left wing, bouncing two defenders to score. The conversion unfortunately missed, York went into the break 27 – 0 up. A solid first half by York, sometimes helped by the visitors falling off tackles and being on the wrong side of the referee’s whistle but York’s pace and strong running was evident and deserved the lead.

The challenge for York in the second half was to keep up the intensity and extend the winning margin. Whilst there were some good York performances, West Park came back into the game in the second period and frustrated York. Tom Newitt was again at the centre of York’s attacking moves as a charge down gave him the opportunity to run deep in to the West Park half and the resulting pass found replacement winger Hugh Nicholson, who for the second week in a row, clinically finished the move to score. With the Hessay conversion, York were 34 – 0 up.

What followed was 20 minutes of frustration as York failed to add any more points and West Park increased their intensity and aggression to make the game more competitive. Dunlop, Newitt and Davies were all denied by a mixture of knock-on’s and last-gasp tackles. Indeed, the last ten minutes definitely belonged to West Park as they staged a comeback and forced York back towards their own line. The visitors frustrated the York coaching team as their increased intensity resulted in the pacey second row Hill scoring a well-deserved try. Converted, the score was 34 – 7. Save for some scrambled defence, Hill might have been in again but York managed to hold out to hear the final whistle blow on a satisfactory score line.

York should rightly be pleased with the five points and extending their winning run to four out of four in 2016. The win also sees them climb to sixth in the league. Much of York’s inconsistency this season has come from an ever-changing personnel and whilst there were a number of changes from last week’s win away at Heath, the team showed signs of development and building winning momentum. Included in the new faces this week were Ambler and Hall, both of whom moved up from the second XV to slot in well. Newitt was a constant threat in midfield and Dunlop deserved his brace, building on a solid game last week. In the forwards, Fox and Rutherford carried strongly and Britland made numerous carries and excellent metres, bouncing defenders off with ease (if only he would consistently carry the ball in two hands, even more could be made from his attacking strength).

Next week York are away at Old Crossleyans who were beaten at home by Heath and lie just above West Park Leeds in 13th. York will be hoping that they can make it five out of five!
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