Pontefract 1st XV v Moortown 1 st XV

Pontefract 1st XV v Moortown 1 st XV
Pontefract travelled to Moortown on Saturday hoping to avenge a close defeat earlier in the season but with a hastily re organised pack caused by injuries from last week’s hard match against Keighley this was going to be a tall order against a well matched and well drilled squad.
Pontefract came under pressure straight from the kick off with Moortown using their weight advantage in the pack to drive Pontefract off the ball and with the wind making lineouts a bit of a lottery Pontefract had to defend strongly. Glenn Boyd’s trusty boot got Pontefract out of trouble on a number of occasions and he was a tiger in defence. Pressure eventually told and when the outside centre cut in against the line of play Pontefract’s defence was split open and he scored near the posts for a converted try.
On the 15 Minute mark Phil Lane picked up a loose ball and drove up the midfield. Matthew Bacon cut inside off the left wing to support and carried on the attack, he offloaded the ball in the tackle to Jonny Hill who timed his pass well to give Luke Beecher a run in for a converted try to equal the scores.
On the 20 minute mark Moortown put together a series of rucks which took play into the Pontefract 22 lead by their number 8. Initially Pontefract defence pushed the attack back but a missed tackle allowed the wing to score out wide on the right for an unconverted try.
Two minutes later Bacon, operating on the wing instead of his usual centre spot, received a ball on the half way line . He cut inside and twirled his way through a number of half tackles to score near the posts. Ian Mattison added the extras to put Pontefract 11-14 up.
From the kick off Pontefract were awarded a scrum for a knock on. Jonny Burrow drove off the back of the scrum, he found skipper Fawcett and Bacon coming off the wing in support, they cut through the defence to find Sanderson at pace on an angle that wrong footed Moortown for the second converted try.
Then followed an incident that left the visiting supporters non plussed. A clearance kick from Boyd failed to make touch and Moortown launched a strong attack up their left wing. A pass went into touch and quick thinking by Ian Mattison saw space out wide. He took a quick throw in, which saw Boyd break the cover with 3 to non overlap only to be brought back by the referee to ask if Pontefract wanted a scrum or line out! Moortown won the lineout and tried to kick over the Pontefract defence. The ball was retrieved by Sanderson who quickly fed Fawcett who made a half break before chipping ahead. He was near the 22 after outrunning the defence when he was knocked into touch off the ball with no one else to beat. Mattison’s penalty attempt went wide and quick thinking by Moortown allowed them to run out of defence with Pontefract’s cover stretched. Good passing between the number 8 and wing drove into the 22 before feeding the centre, who scored near the posts. The conversion was added making the half time score 18-21.
Ponteract suffered a series of setbacks at the start of the second half, with Moortown running in three tries in the first 20 minutes and losing hard tackling Jack Beddis to injury. The first was from a line out penalty where their pack set up a driving maul in the Pontefract 22. They could not hold the drive and Moortown’s No 8 dotted it down for a converted score. Then came 2 solo tries from left wing with powerful sides stepping runs that cut through the Pontefract cover which put Moortown in a commanding 38-21 position. Pontefract did not give up, a break down the left released Sanderson who chipped ahead, Luke Beecher raced for the ball but was taken out with the cover beat. Sanderson was yellow carded for protesting the referee’s decision and shortly after Jonny Hill, who was having a great game in the loose, was also carded for a high tackle. Pontefract then had to weather a storm of pressure but they did so without conceding points with replacement centre Chris Sant and back rows Frank Cartwright and Jonny Burrow making attack-stopping tackles.
Back to full strength, Pontefract began a fight back that started a few jitters in the Moortown defence. Boyd made a couple of strong half breaks up the centre. Though tackled, quick support from the back row saw the ball recycled quickly for firstly Skipper Craig Fawcett to cross for a converted score. Then a fine pass from Mattison after another break by Boyd hit Matthew Bacon at pace and he drove for the corner beating the full back on the outside for an unconverted try, score 38- 33. Into injury time but not to be outdone, Chris Sant then made a break that found John Fradgley in support. He set off for the corner and seemed to have made it before being hauled down from behind by his collar, again quick ball found Moortown stretched but the final pass was adjudged forward. Moortown won their defensive scrum to end the game. Final score 38-33 to Moortown with Pontefract taking 2 well deserved bonus points. Saturday sees Pontefract host Old Leos for their last home game but that is not their final action, they have a rearranged fixture to play at Old Rishworthians and are in the Yorkshire Shield semi-final.