U 15s steal the points in close encounter with Huddersfield.

Bees started sluggishly after another long break since their last competitive game at Selby, whilst Huddersfield looked sharp from the outset and imposed themselves through their physical presence and speed to the breakdown The majority of the first half was spent in Bees territory - the few scraps of ball that Bees managed to win were quickly handed back to Huddersfield through a combination of questionable decision making and poor execution. It was only some dogged defending that allowed Bees to hang on for 15 minutes before the opposition converted their initial superiority into points. The home supporters feared that the floodgates might open following the try but, to their credit, Bees dug in and started to make better use of the small amount of possession available. During one of Bee’s few excursions into the Huddersfield half, Lewis Brook managed to break away from the maul and then released full-back Harry Ellison, who broke a couple of tackles to score under the posts. Nick Gore converted to take the score to 7-5 at half time. Huddersfield must have been wondering how they could have spent so much time in the Bees half yet still be losing.
The second half started in pretty much the same vain. Huddersfield kicked off to the Bees forwards who simply looked on as the Huddersfield pack piled through to take the ball. We might as well have laid out a red carpet!
Fortunately, the lads seemed to wake up from this nightmare and started to make a fight of it. At last the forwards were getting to the breakdown and beginning to nick odd bits of turnover. The back row was doing good work and Will Rix was scrapping away to good effect – our improvement up front led to an increase in Huddersfield infringements at the breakdown. A quick tap penalty by Tony Butterworth released Joe Bashforth who made 20 yards or so before being held up. The Bees forwards supported well - Liam Hagerty emerged with the ball and a perfectly timed offload found Andrew Niczyperowicz in a bit of space, who was able to evade the tackles of the opposition backs to score a try and take the score to 12-5.
Huddersfield continued to play solid rugby and their heavier pack responded with a pushover try, which was converted to take the score to 12-12. Whilst Huddersfield still had more of the play, Bees continued to defend well and were becoming more effective when they won the ball. Some well placed kicks from Nick Gore enabled us to turn defence into attack and Tony and Nick were showing good understanding and variation. A neat switch to the short side provided an overlap; Nick drew the opposition winger then released Andy who beat the full back and one or two other retreating Huddersfield players to score his second try, taking the score to 17-12.
A nervy few minutes remained but the final whistle came as Harry Ellison foiled another Huddersfield attack with a resounding tackle that dumped the Huddersfield attacker well and truly into touch. The Bees tackling was probably the reason that they managed to win this game; despite the huge amount of possession that Huddersfield enjoyed, only once did their backs manage to break through, which is testimony to the stubborn defence put up by the whole team. However, centres Sam Jeffrey and Matt Dilworth and full back Harry Ellison warrant special mention for their tireless efforts in keeping the opposition backs at bay.