Junior Rugby Union round-up (From Gazette & Herald)

Junior Rugby Union round-up

3:01pm Wednesday 25th January 2012 in Junior Sport

Malton & Norton Under-17s returned to league action with an impressive 26-12 victory at Otley.

From the start the hosts were put under pressure and they conceded a try when Charlie Darmody jinked over from a quick tap penalty, James Bulmer landing the conversion.

Malt then gifted Otley two tries, both from handling errors under high balls, before taking a grip on the game again with Charlie Greswold barging over to level at 12-12.

After the turnaround it was Malton asking the questions – their dominant pack continually setting up a good platform and fly-half, Bulmer, with the wind at his back, making great swathes of territory with the boot.

Greswold added a second try to cap a fine spell of open running rugby, and number eight Will Witty picked up and powered over from a close-range scrummage, Bulmer converting both.

Adam Durrant outstanding at lock and Rob Dempsey, Brennon Kay and Michael Smith made penetrating runs.

Malton & Norton U13s destroyed Ripon 50-0.

Some lovely flowing rugby from the backs, and the customary dominance of the forwards led to four tries for Will Fordy, three for Jack Charters and one apiece for Ryan Kirk, James Walker and Keaton Watson.

Only one of the ten tries was converted in very blustery conditions. Ripon kept going and never gave up but, despite being loaned some Malton players to help with injuries, they were never really at the races.

On the back of good wins against Scarborough and Pocklington, Malton & Norton U12s continued their good form with a 45-33 win at a well-drilled Ripon side.

They recovered from a three try to one deficit to take control in the third and fourth quarter of the match. Seven tries were scored by Sykes (3), McCourt, McMillan, Buchanan and Smith, conversions were added by McMillan (5).

Malton & Norton U11s’ first fixture of 2012 resulted in a convincing double away win over Ripon.

The first half of game one was a joy to watch – the forwards won every ball, the backs passed it well and the wings scored, giving Malt a 42-9 lead. Ripon fought back after the break in a 42-19 result.

Game two was more even with harder work for the forwards, but the backs did well under pressure, running the ball to bag four tries in a 28-14 win. Try--scorers were Max Twiddle (2), Alex Jones, Jack Clark, Iain Oakley (2), Andre Robson (2), Archie Peckitt and Joe Browne, while Tom Jones converted nine from nine despite strong winds.

Malton & Norton U10s were a try down early on but beat a big Ripon squad 7-4.

Billy Johnson scored an equaliser and, after Ripon went back in front, Arthur Aston and Jack Thomas put Malt ahead. Thomas Robinson scored early in the second half, Adam Finlinson drove well to get the ball deep into the Ripon half, which allowed Oliver Kelsey to score a good individual try, and Alex Chalton added to the tally.

Ripon bagged another two tries before Peter Hudson scored his first for Malton after showing a good turn of speed just before full-time.

The second game produced a 3-0 victory. Thomas Barker ran half the length of the pitch to give Malt the lead and they went 2-0 up after the break through Kelsey. Chalton supported well for the third after Finlinson was held up just short of the line following another good forward drive.

Two wins and a defeat were Malton & Norton U8s’ tally at Ripon.

They lost the first game 9-7 – their tries came from George Baldwin (4), Matthew King (2) and William Cussins – but bounced back 6-4 in the second match. This time, the tries game from Myles Collingwood, Hugo Dahlgren, Presley Carr, King, Cussins and Baldwin.

The third game was more comprehensive. An 8-3 win was crowned with scores from George Langworthy, Mathew Ireland, Cussins (4) and Collingwood (2).

Malton & Norton U7s had two tight games at Ripon.

They were unlucky to lose the first 9-8 against Ripon ‘A’. Matthew Saxby scored four tries, with Lysander Duree (2), Toby Welch and Alex Clark also crossing .

In the second game, Benjamin Brambles, Saxby and Welch all scored twice, with tries from Clark and Katy Mullaney helping Malton to an 8-6 victory over Ripon ‘B’.

Malton & Norton Under-14s were pipped to the post 27-24 by Old Brodleians at The Gannock.

They started slowly, shipping two early tries to the visitors before playing themselves back into the game with fine rugby.

Several phases of strong rucking by Tom Nesfield, Tom Thorn and Jack Lear laid the line open for quick hands by James Wood to put James Redhead in for a try. Wood converted the extras.

Ben Tenge then dived over the whitewash after a well contested ruck on the tryline but Old Brods had the last say of the half – regaining the lead with a third unconverted try.

The visitors pressed home their advantage with a further try, before Malton once more came roaring back. Strong try-line pressure gave Gareth Skelton the opportunity to gather the ball and crash over for a well deserved try.

Next, good distribution by Dan Ingham sent the ball out to Lucian Watts, who made ground before the ball was recycled to the rampaging Ollie Lee, and he cantered outside the Old Brods defence before showing a cool head to touch down close to the posts.

Wood added the kick to restore Malton’s slender advantage. But the home side couldn’t deal with intense pressure on their line and a loose ball was pounced on as Old Brods took the victory.