Red Roses Edged out by the Old Foe

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Yorkshire 26 v Lancashire 13: report by Simon Taylor

Lancashire men failed in their bid to reach the showpiece County Championship final for an eleventh time as they lost out to their great rivals Yorkshire in this ‘winner takes all’ match. With so much at stake it was predictably a fiercely fought contest, in doubt until the last 10 minutes. In the end, a poor 5-minute spell in the first half for Lancashire, and a lower error count by the home team, saw the White Roses seal the deal and earn their first trip to rugby HQ for 16 years, to play Kent, winners of the Southern group.

On a fine day in the excellent surroundings of Brantingham Park, the home of Hull Ionians, Lancashire soaked up some early pressure and worked their way up field on the back of a neat break by scrum half Matt Sturgess, which forced a penalty in kickable range. Greg Smith did the honours and the Red Roses led 3-0 after 5 minutes.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as Yorkshire chipped over the top and pressured an error, turning over the ball in the Lancs 22. A couple of hefty drives by the heavy artillery sucked in the defence and created space out wide for Hull winger Pete Hudson-Kowalewicz to canter in unopposed. The conversion was missed but Yorkshire led 5-3, a lead they were ultimately never to relinquish.

To make matters worse, Fylde winger Adam Lanigan suffered a nasty injury in this phase of play, later confirmed as a leg break, and was replaced by Will Hunt. We wish Adam well in his recovery over the summer.

The next 15 minutes saw Lancs under some heavy pressure with the home team camped out in the Lancs 22. Stout defence including managing to hold up a catch and drive line out as it rampaged over the line allowed Lancs to finally exit on the back of a strong carry from Scott Rawlings and another neat break by Matt Sturgess which was carried on by the supporting Corey Bowker. As it looked like a score was inevitable some cynical play near the home line saw a penalty awarded and Yorkshire’s big second row George Hedgeley was sent to the naughty step for 10 minutes. Lancashire set up the line out and worked a move on the blind side only for Toby Harrison to be bundled into touch as he looked to score, the goal line dropout allowing Yorkshire to exit their own red zone.

On 27 minutes Lancashire knocked on as they looked to carry out of their own 22 and Yorkshire recycled the turnover ball quickly and effectively, once again using a couple of strong carries to create edge space on the left. Hudson-Kowalewicz profited once more, with a second try, this one converted by Sheffield scrum-half Elliott Fisher, and Yorkshire were 12-3 ahead.

Things went from bad to worse as the Lancs re-start did not go 10. From the scrum, Sheffield and Yorkshire number eight Ryan Burrows, who was a handful all day, picked and went, put his centre in the gap, who sent his winger Sam Taylor clear, and Taylor dotted down. Fisher converted again and in the space of 3 minutes Yorkshire had scored 14 points to lead 19-3, all while down to 14 men. This was, in the final analysis, to be the crucial part of the game.

Lancs made changes including Oscar Crowe replacing Matt Garrod and Sam Russell on for Scott Rawlings and had their chances to reduce the deficit before half time. They worked their way into enemy territory again and forced penalties, and two line-outs on the home 5 yard line. Unfortunately, these came to nothing, and the scoreboard remained the same going into the break.

Yorkshire had a chance to stretch further ahead early in the second half but bombed a chance on the right and Lancashire made them pay. Hard work by the pack gained territory and neat interchange play between Matt Sturgess and Greg Smith saw the latter dance through, score near the posts, and improve his own try with the conversion. With 42 minutes gone Lancs were back in it at 19-10 down.

As things became tense both teams seemed to lose their ability to impose their game on the other for a while. Defences were on top, forcing errors, there were 4 scrum penalties in a row, one way or the other, and things got a bit scrappy. Lancs then gathered their collective will and put some phases together, good ball carrying stretching and stressing the home defence, with the Preston Grasshoppers whippet Jacob Browne and Sedgley Park’s Lewis Bradley to the fore in this period of play.

Bradley, in fact, was an abrasive annoyance to Yorkshire all day, the kind of player you hate to play against but love to have in your team. Yorkshire know all about him, given he played for them in this fixture 2 years ago, when he was playing for Huddersfield, but knowing him doesn’t make him any easier to deal with.

Finally, on the hour mark, an over-robust dump tackle on Sedgley Park’s Tom Ailes gave Lancs a very kickable penalty. Smith knocked it over again and the Red Roses were now firmly back in contention, within a converted try at 19-13.

The next score was always going to be crucial, and sadly for Lancs, it went to the home team on 68 minutes. On the back of penalties, they set up shop in the Lancs 22, and with the cover defence missing, scrum-half Fisher put a neat chip kick through, which was touched down by Hull centre Lewis Minikin. Fisher kicked the simple conversion and Yorkshire could breathe easier at 26-13.

Lancashire did not give up the fight and, needing two converted tries to win, they looked to get the first as quick as possible and make the last knockings a nervous time. Knock-ons and a good turnover by Burrows initially thwarted attempts to build pressure until another penalty gave them good line out position. Crowe’s catch off the top was whipped out by Sturgess to Rawlings whose muscular burst nearly took him to the line. Recycled ball saw Browne stopped within inches of the line by a superb tackle, as Yorkshire defended desperately.

One more chance came the way of Lancs, and their day was summed up when Yorkshire skipper and Hull Ionians second row Joe Makin picked off the pass right on his own line, just as it looked like Lancs must score. Makin trundled 40 yards up the field and put boot to ball, pinning Lancashire back in their own 22. From here the home team managed to see out time and earn themselves the trip to Twickenham.

There was no lack of application or effort from all the Lancashire squad, but a greater error count than the hosts, who took their chances better, and the 5-minute spell when they shipped in two tries despite having a man advantage, meant Lancashire could not argue that Yorkshire were deserved winners on the day. This was a fine advert for the County Championship still having great value, some excellent players from levels 3, 4 and 5 showcasing their talents with skill, commitment, and physicality, in a game that was well worth the entrance fee.

Senior squad director Mark Nelson summed up the day when he said, “Whilst everyone involved with the team is bitterly disappointed that we didn’t make the final, we can all be proud of the effort and commitment the team showed in the two matches of the campaign. When we got back to a six point difference with 15 minutes to go we gave ourselves a real shot at getting the result we were striving for, unfortunately it didn’t work out. We had opportunities throughout and showed when we got momentum, we could break down their defence. There were mistakes, there always are and unfortunately Yorkshire got the rub of the green, capitalised on a couple and made us pay. We also created chances with smart play but just couldn’t quite finish them off. The lads put everything into the game but sadly it wasn’t to be our day.”

Lancashire: Corey Bowker (Fylde), Tom Burtonwood (Blackburn), Danny Rylance (Sedgley Park), Matt Garrod (Fylde), Jake Barron (Sale FC), Lewis Bradley (Sedgley Park), Toby Harrison (Fylde), Connor James, Matt Sturgess (both Sedgley Park), Greg Smith (Fylde), Adam Lanigan (Fylde), Ollie Glasse (Sedgley Park), Jack Lightowler, Jacob Browne (both Preston Grasshoppers)

Replacements: Pete Altham (Fylde), Tom Ailes, Oscar Crowe (both Sedgley Park), Ollie Trippier, Will Hunt, Josh Longson (all Preston Grasshoppers), Sam Russell (Blackburn).