“Mud, glorious mud!”

We welcomed our old friends Skipton to Wagon Lane last Sunday for a game in conditions which nearly rivaled those met by the British Lions when they toured New Zealand in 1977, for those old enough to recall such bygone times!

The 12’s were led by Jake DW who rallied the ever growing confident squad into action. The conditions were soggy, windy and the end of the season seemed an age away. The Bees got off to a great start and had great territorial advantage camped in Skipton’s half. There was some kamikaze tackling early on by George “Bite-yer-Legs” Williams and some super aggression up front from George F and Thomas DB. Bees were unlucky not to profit from all the possession and territory and a counterattack towards the close of the first quarter saw Skipton score their first try. There was however much to take from the half with some great controlled aggression and some nice rugby in mucky conditions.
The second half got off to a stuttering start within Skipton struggling with the kick off. It was scrum time which resulted in try no.2 from the Skipton danger-man no.10. Not to be deterred, Captain Jake DW decided it was high time to get Curley “The Chieftain tank” out for his first of many drives forward which gained valuable ground and this freed up the “Flying Beesman”, namely Charlie to score a super try to make the score 1-2. In the build up, there was some real earthy graft coming from Ismail and James “The Red Amber and Black Engine”, two of the relative newcomers to the team who have made an instant impact to our fortunes. Bilal was also in the thick of it and put in a superb “crack of doom” tackle on his opposite number, leaving him wondering was he in Wharfedale or Airedale! A quick kick and chase led to Josh killing the ensuing loose ball, going down on it like a “sack of spuds”, injuring himself in the process. Luckily it was his leg, not his electric guitar/PS3 playing hands! Shortly after, George F piled in with another great tackle as did Nathan “Boss” Hogg and Thomas DB too, doing his best to stifle Skipton’s no.10. The effort and commitment was plain to see. A late score from Skipton saw the first game end 1-3 to Skipton. Cheers to Harry W for playing for Skipton - good man!

Game two got off to another fine start with super attitude and Nathan “Boss” Hogg guesting for Skipton, as is the quality and depth of our squad now. A real ding-dong of a game developed with Fernando “The Galatico” scoring a near range effort to put Bees up 1-0. Bilal made another great drive, assisted by Flynn, another relative newcomer having a fine game too. No longer had I updated my soggy notebook, when the Beesman scored another sizzler to make it 2-0! This was a riveting passage of play from both sides and Skipton managed to pull a try back making it 2-1. Again, super work in the muck from Ismail, Bilal and The Tank, who it should be noted, has no reverse gear!
In the final 10 minutes, Bees were deep in Skipton territory, there was a couple of great tackles from “Bite-yer-Legs” and Harry W. Bees dug deep right till the end and were unlucky to concede a late try, finishing the game 2 tries a piece. Cheers also to George F for playing for Skipton in the last 10.

The game was tough, in poor conditions, but played fairly and squarely by all. Man of the Match this week went to Bilal and the Best Attitude award went to Harry W - well done lads, well done the U12’s! Keighley are next up, roll on Sunday!