Burley 24 - 14 Old Grovians

Tries: Szymanski, Hinchliffe,

Conv: Lilley, Cadman

Grovians made the short trip along the A65 for their first fixture in Yorkshire Division 4 to take on Burley in the first ever meeting between the two clubs.  The players were met with overcast conditions with a stiff breeze blowing down the substantial Burley slope.  Hopes were high after some excellent training sessions in recent weeks.  Things started well as Grovians won the toss and elected to take on the slope in the first half.

Burley got the new league season underway from the kick off and from the start it was clear the first half would require a sterling defensive effort from the away side as Burley rampaged down the hill at their opponents with a mixture of forward power and intelligent kicks to the corner.  Grovians responded by defending stoutly, repelling everything Burley could throw at them.  When they went up the middle, Burley were met with strong defence from the OG's pack and went they went wide, organised defense saw the ball either wrapped up or spilled.

On the 20 minute mark Burley got their noses in front.  A couple of harsh decisions by the referee saw Grovians penalised twice in quick succession.  The away side at first appeared to have yet again held out on their line until a good second effort from the Burley pack saw flanker Christie shoved over the line for the opening score next to the posts.  Full back Naylor slotted over the easy conversion and Burley were up by 7 points.

Burley continued to dominate the first half exchanges as Grovians struggled with their lineout, the away side's only chance coming from a penalty which Kris Lilley pulled wide.  It was all out defence from the visitors as Burley threw everything they had at them but committed effort continued to see their line remain intact.  Suddenly, loose ball was scooped up by Burley in midfield and recycled to the wing where Naylor went in for the second try of the afternoon.  This time the conversion was missed and Burley were 12 points to the good. 

Burley sniffed the chance to try and put the game out of Grovians' reach and went for the kill in the run up to half time.  Suddenly Grovians awoke from their slumber, the pack now keeping the ball tight and rumbled up the slope with a series of drives.  With the time right to shift the ball wide Scott Amos fed Anthony Cadman who, alert as ever, spotted the space out wide and delivered a pin point cross field kick for Ollie Szymanski to gather and beat the chasing cover to go in under the posts.  Lilley converted and all of a sudden Grovians were back in the game at 7-12 down but crucially with the slope in their favour for the second half.

Burley attempted to immediately apply pressure the Grovians at the start of the second half but their play had become scrappy and errors were creeping in as well as indiscipline.  Grovians attempted to take advantage and went close in the right corner but the ball was dropped with the line begging.  Lilley then missed another chance to the close the gap with a penalty effort.  Grovians continued to push but were then dealt a harsh blow.  Loose ball on the Burley left wing was scooped up and flicked inside to the Burley winger Peel who looked a certain scorer until Amos appeared from nowhere and wrapped up the danger with what looked a textbook smother tackle.  Not so according to the referee who gave a penalty try for a high tackle.  The conversion was slotted over and Burley again had the advantage.

Burley almost immediately killed the game off 5 minutes later.  As they had done for the majority of the game they secured good ball from the lineout and with their forwards back on song after a scratchy opening to the second stanza they drove up field with conviction, creating space on the left where Robinson went over for the decisive try.  The conversion was missed but with 17 points to make up in less than 15 minutes Grovians were playing catch up.

Grovians continued to pound away at the home team, never giving up although victory seemed unlikely.  Fantastic hits in the middle from Dave Roberts and Matt Kelly showed the home side they still meant business.  Grovians opened up and played some expansive rugby and got their reward 5 minutes from time when Cadman utilised the back line to make the break and find John Hincliffe on his inside who went over under the posts.  Cadman converted and Grovians kept pressing right to the final whistle but ultimately fell short of victory.

Plenty of positives for the Grovians against an extremely well drilled Burley side who had played 3 pre season friendlies against none for Grovians.  There is also lots to work on and we need to keep up the effort and numbers up in training for what is clearly a competitive league.

This week's fixture is against York Railway Institue at Woodhouse Grove School.  Kick off is 3pm.