Burley II V Old Rishworthians II
29th September 2007.
Burley were at home with five new faces in the line up and the prospect of a promising day at the office.
However, Old Rish turned up with other ideas. Burley won the toss and opted to play up hill for the first half as we looked to have the fittest and largest number in our squad.
A tight and very strong display was put on by both teams with a great start from new boy Chris Doors, proving himself as a well worthy hooker and strong tackler all around the park.
Some great moves were set from the Burley boys and some good running from centres Elliot Viles and Aaron Ralph were constantly attacking the Old Rish line.
New boy Matthew Hutchinson wearing the number four shirt had some great runs and had a brilliant debut in the second row and was always a threat to the visitors and their line.
He teamed up well on a number of occasions with the Burley number six Tom Hodges. Old Rish were the first team to get on the score sheet just before half time when Burley were
caught napping in the backs and from a scrum came a rather flattering try for the Halifax side. An excellent conversion made the half time score 7-0 to Old Rishworthians.
Skipper Jim Griffin introduced four new faces in the shape of Giles Bushall (hooker) Brendon "Oh my God yet another Ginger" Cowy (centre) Ben Mays (Full Back) and Simon Richardson (Centre).
A great start to the half was on show from the Burley boys with Adam Wider making his size and weight count, Luke Ribbons winning alot of line out ball and Derren Cressy constantly flooring their winger (you could see the Old Rish backs were getting frustrated).
This showed when the Rishworthian number thirteen lost his temper and started to wave his handbag after a great hit from Jim Griffin.
He soon changed his mind when fifteen Burley shirts made a bee line straight for him showing a massive amount of team spirit.
Unfortunately, the same number 13 scored a very sloppy try in the top corner when the line was broken by the Old Rish fly half, with a cheeky pass out to his centre who had very little to do but ground the ball.
With 15 minutes to go Burley lost their captain as he was called upon to replace an injured first teamer. Old boy Paul Wheeler went back on the field after being subbed at half time to give Ben Mays a run out in his favored position, full back.
Adam Wider took the captain's arm band from Jim Griffin for the remainder of the game. Old Rishworthians were fortunate to finish the game with a full complement of players after the referee was very lenient with their number thirteen who deserved to be sent off after his petulant display of dissent required him to be forcibly restrained by his own team-mates.
He was immediately substituted.
Replacement centre Simon Richardson scored a well-worked try for Burley and the conversion by Tim Betts brought the score line to 7-12. Burley scented victory against visibly tiring opponents and put constant pressure on the Old Rishworthian line but the visitors' defence held firm until the final whistle ended an entertaining and competitive game.