Grovians were looking to get back to winning ways following their opening day defeat at Burley and faced up against a strong looking York RI side who had enjoyed a 46-0 victory on the opening weekend of the season against Adwick.

OGs welcomed Paul Exley back into the fray and were forced to make changes in the back line with injuries and availability taking their toll, Ollie Wolfenden coming into the centres for his seasonal debut and Ben Brown switching to fly half.

The opening exchanges were keenly contested, RI being a well organised unit up front and looking to dominate the breakdown as they charged down the hill after winning the toss.  It was against the run of play then that Grovians took the lead.  Strong defence in midfield, particularly from Wolfenden forced a handling error from the York full back and quick hands from Tim Martin saw the ball shipped to Ollie Szymanski who romped 70 metres to score under the posts.  Brown slotted over the conversion and Grovians had an early lead.

York responded almost immediately.  A mistake in their own 22 from Grovians resulted in a York scrum.  Ball was shipped to the backs and a clever inside pass from the York fly half created a gap for the try to be scored next to the posts.  The conversion was added and when the visitors quickly added another converted try it looked as though it would be a long afternoon for the home side.  A well struck penalty further extended the lead and just as Grovians appeared to be getting back into the game, another penalty attempt struck the upright and fell straight to a York player to go in at the corner.  The try was converted and York were suddenly 24-7 to the good.

Grovians didn't give up and were rewarded right on half time.  Good defence again in midfield saw the ball spilled by the York centre and in almost a carbon copy of his first try, Szymanski scorched up field again to score under the posts and take his tally for the season to 3 tries.  Brown nudged over the extras and as the half time whistle blew Grovians were back in the game, only 10 points down but with the advantage of the slope and breeze to come in the second stanza.

The gameplan for the second half was a simple one, to use the elements and try to dominate territory.  Grovians played this well and started to apply pressure to the York line but stout defence kept the home side at bay.  Disaster then struck as on their first foray into the Grovians '22 in the second half the York fly half showed quick feet and skipped through to score under the posts.  With the difference now 17 points Grovians were staring down the barrel of a second successive defeat.

With 20 minutes remaining Dan Nulty entered the fray and this was to prove a turning point with extra pace on the flanks combined with a now tiring York side who were struggling with the slope against them.  Grovians defence was also relentless with some huge hits coming in from the pack, the pick of the bunch from Tom Dalton on the York inside centre.  With the defence setting the platform, good hands out wide created space and Wolfenden capped a fine performance by racing past the cover and going under the posts for the score although his dive left a lot to be desired!  Brown again slotted the extras and Grove suddenly sensed they could get something from the game as they finished the stronger of the two sides.

With 5 minutes left on the clock space appeared out wide and was well spotted by Brown who shipped the ball to Wolfenden.  Nulty spotted a gap in the visitor's defence and hit a beautiful line at pace onto a deftly weighted pass from Wolfenden to fly through the York defence and go in under the posts for a superb score.  Brown popped over the extras and the gap was suddenly 3 points.

As Grove continued to push the York side started to lose their discipline and hands in at the ruck in centre field presented Grove with the chance to level the scores from 35 metres out.  Brown nervelessly stepped up and slotted over the penalty.  Coolness personified.  The scores were level and the first league point of the season was in the bag.

Grovians should take heart from their comeback against a well organised York side who no doubt will be pushing at the top end of the table this season.  Next league fixture is away at Rotherham Phoenix on 26th September.  Another tough game ahead.