17-0 victory stretches U 15s unbeaten run to 7 matches

The tone of the contest was set early in the first half when the Rishworthians blind side flanker slung Tony Butterworth into touch by the scruff of his neck, to be confronted by Alfie Hutchinson who subtly suggested that he might like to pick on somebody his own size next time!! The extra enthusiasm shown by both teams combined with a heavy and narrow pitch made this a rather scrappy affair. The lack of width was stifling the Bees backs and despite lots of possession and territorial advantage, Bees were finding it difficult to break through the Rishworthian defence. This fact was not lost on Bees fly half, Nick Gore, who is showing increasing vision and ability to adapt to the conditions in front of him. The Bees backs made a number of good runs, one of which was set up by a counter attack from left wing Andy Niczyperowicz, who had deftly kept the ball in play from a Rishworthians penalty, but the home side’s defence held firm. Nick Gore provided the required variation by chipping over the flat line of Rishworthian backs. Sam Jeffrey was the beneficiary of one kick and, having sold a classic dummy, released the winger but the ball was spilled and the score remained at 0-0. A series of penalties followed, the last one being awarded to Bees close to the try line. Two forward surges sucked in the opposition; quick recycling and good hands through the backs saw Jack Meggitt home in the corner for a hard fought Bees try. A great conversion attempt from a difficult angle hit the upright to leave the score at 0-5 at half time.
The early part of the second half saw the ball ebb and flow about the half way line with plenty of errors being made in the slippery conditions and lots of loose ball. Corey Spencer bravely pounced on one bobbling ball, the Bees forwards rucked over in classic fashion leaving Corey still with a hand on the ball to present perfectly to the Bees scrum half. Callum Proctor had settled in well given his long lay-off and distributed well to Nick Gore, who took the ball just far enough before releasing a bullet of a pass down the line. From the next phase, Sam Jeffery made a good break which was well supported by the forwards and Joe Bashforth took it over for the second try, converted by Nick to take the score to 0-12.
A long kick off by the Rishworthians was deemed to have been knocked on but Bees won the scrum against the head and Nick Gore kicked over the top of the Rishworthian defence. Good pressure by Matty Dilworth and Joe Bashforth meant the best that the back tracking winger could do was to scramble the ball into touch. From the resulting line out, the ball was swiftly down the Bees backs to Harry Ellison, who having run into the Rishworthian “wall” on a number of previous occasions, chipped neatly over the top to keep the opponents on the back foot. Again, the ball was scrambled into touch but another good take from the Bees forwards and distribution along the backs saw Nick Gore cross the line for the third try of the game to take the score to 0-17.
There was no way back now for Rishworthians but they continued to impress with their tenacity and hard graft. Their fly half had played well and put up a high, hanging kick, which full-back Harry Ellison took with his usual aplomb and made a great counter attack, breaking a number of tackles before he was finally stopped – Will Scrimshaw took it on from the tackle and then the ball was out to the backs once again– another well placed kick by Nick Gore was well chased with the bounce just eluding the fingertips of Sam Jeffrey for what would surely have been a fourth try. Some indiscipline amongst the Bees resulted in a penalty being awarded to Rishworthians; a lapse of Bees concentration allowed the Rishworthian centre to run half the length of the pitch before coming up against Harry Ellison. Needless to say that was the extent of his run and the final whistle came shortly afterwards.
Another fine win in difficult conditions which largely negated the skill and speed of our backs. The game demanded physical commitment and the 20+Bees players who took to the field gave it in bucketfuls.