Scunthorpe Barbarians 36 Lincoln City Knights 34

On a wet rainy day, with a new fortress to protect at John Leggot College Scunthorpe were hoping to celebrate with a victory over their local rivals Lincoln.
The match started very evenly with both sides breaking the gain line and completing their sets of 6 tackles.
After just six minutes Scunthorpe’s intent was shown as Gavin Draper was unlucky to of been adjudged to of been in touch as he grounded the ball.
As Lincoln pressed Gavin Kempthorne and Ryan Eades repelled the attacks by ferociously tackling their opponents knocking them back on every occasion.
After 10 minutes good work on the right sucked the defence in allowing Gaz Phillips to take a short ball from Ben Pearson, hitting a great line to go over Ian Lee adding the extras 6-0.
Scunthorpe were soon attacking again, with Kempthorne making a great break from inside his own half he was stopped 10 yard short by the scrambling Lincoln defence. This didn’t prevent the try as the ball was recycled to Pearson for him to put in a great crossfield kick which was gathered in by Kepa Paaka, who stepped inside selling the dummy to the would be Lincoln defenders going over under the posts. Lee again added the conversion 12-0
Lincoln weren’t done by a long shot and came back with 2 quick scores converting one 12-10.
Scunthorpe had certainly gone to sleep and Lincoln were in ascendency adding another score to take a slender lead 12-14.
Scunthorpe galvanised and went back at Lincoln with a great break by Pearson who offloaded to Goodison who still had plenty to do but went over in the corner to give Scunthorpe the lead back 16-14.
On the stroke of half time Pearson turned receiver following a good break by the sides talisman Jones, Pearson squirmed over for a score with again Lee adding the extras. 22-14.

Lincoln must have been given the proverbial hair dryer treatment as they came out with much more aggression and will to win this was shown as Lincoln first scored an intercept and then went on to score 2 others with just 10 minutes into the second half. Luckily the Lincoln kicker had left his boots at home only converting one but still gave them a healthy 8 point lead. 22-30.
With Scunthorpe having conceded 16 unanswered points, coach Daintith was left cursing his luck as not only did the heavens open but the somewhat keen referee saw what he believed to be two yellow card offences within two minutes and sent both Pearson and Paaka to the sin bin for high tackle and a second attempt at a tackle respectively.
With only 11 men on the field Scunthorpe had to step up and defend bigger and better than they had all game, not only did they not concede Kempthorne broke through the line following good work from Phillips and Eades, Kempthorne sprinted 70 metres from his own half to score under the posts which Lee converted 28-30.
Time was running out and Lincoln gained a penalty in a kickable position which they decided to go for the 2 points, the kick was duly despatched but only gave them a 4 point lead. Scunthorpe knew this and had to go for the try.
Back to a full compliment of players chances were few and far between as the weather played its toll and handling errors became more prevalent. The next score was probably going to win the game and as time was running out Scunthorpe gave up 2 chances through handling errors.
Scunthorpe were inside there own half with a mere 30 secs left the ball was recycled and taken forward, eventually coming to Will Scupham who broke through the first tackle, stepped inside and went over under the posts, the kick was converted by Clayton giving Scunthorpe the win by the closest of majorities and a potential coronary to the on looking coaches.
Scunthorpe did improve on last weeks outing, but there are still many things for the coaching team to work on.

Man of the Match – Gavin Kempthorne
Gamebreaker – Will Scuphams last minute try, which broke Lincoln hearts.

Training takes place opposite John Leggott college Wednesday at 6.45pm, and the Barbarians face last years league winners Parkside Hawks on Saturday at John Leggott college 2.30pm kick off. All welcome to both.

Barbarians 36 – 34 Lincoln

Scunthorpe Barbarians vs Leeds Akkies

Ashby Decoy, Scunthorpe, Saturday 22nd May 2010.

On what was the hottest day of the year so far, it was the turn of Leeds Akkies, a team originally made up of students from the cities Universities, from which they gained their name.

Lining up with a changed side from the previous weeks defeat at Shaw Cross, captain Mark Sherwood being unavailable due to work, and talismanic full back Lewis Jones being unavailable due to surgery on his wisdom teeth.

It soon went from bad to worse for the hosts, as second row forward Mark Stow was forced off in the 7th minute due to a shoulder injury, which would rule him out for the remainder of the game.

Shortly after Stow had left the field, the visitors took the lead, as Damien Shipman ploughed over on the left from close range after the Barbarians defence had successfully kept the Akkies at bay for the opening period.

The lead was shortlived, and after regaining possession from a great short kick off from Karl Clayton, a drive from debutant Craig Catchpole and another from Guy Mychaljuk set the base for Gareth Mist, playing at hooker instead of his usual prop, to burrow his way over from close range, and just get the ball down. Ian Lee was unable to make the most of the conversion, and pulled it to the left of the posts.

Immediately after the kick off, the hosts tried to improve their grip on the game, as a great offload from Karl Clayton released substitute Danny Cribbis, who galloped clear of the covering defence, but found his final ball lacking, as his pass towards Gav Draper was forward and play was stopped for a scrum.

The next 10 minutes of play saw both teams giving no quarter in defence or attack, with big tackles going in from all players, no matter what the size.

It took a great bit of play to unlock the Akkies defence on 24 minutes, as Danny Cribbis, steadily imparting his influence on the game, found the space to get a pass to Karl Clayton, who found a gap in the defence, and used his deceptive pace to outpace the Leeds full back to score in the corner for a second unconverted try.

However, the Barbarians advantage was short lived, as the visitors scored 4 tries in the last 10 minutes of the half to wrestle the game from the reach of the hosts, as they brought the half to the end leading 26-8.

The second half wasn’t to get any better for the hosts, as they wasted several opportunities in the opening minutes, before the Akkies hit with a sucker blow at the halfway point of the half, breaking the Barbarians defensive line open and scoring from range for another unconverted try.

Straight after this, several refereeing decisions allowed the Barbarians to get within touching distance of the Leeds line, but a strange knock on decision from the referee stopped the momentum being gained.

That was to be the last chance for the hosts, as despite venturing into the Akkies half a couple of times, they were unable to break through what was literally a wall of Akkies defenders, it was this which would eventually lead to the visitors scoring two more converted tries in the last 10 minutes, as they broke through a tired Barbarians line both times.

After the game, Lewis Jones, who despite having surgery on his teeth was on the touchline to coach the team for the day was upbeat, saying that the lack of proper time training together as a team had an impact on the performance, and that the players who had been asked to step up and make their debuts had done everything required of them, and that they would only improve as they learnt more about the finer points of Rugby League.

Next up for the Barbarians on Saturday May 29th are Lincoln City Knights, who make the short trip up the A15 to renew their rivalry with their Lincolnshire rivals, 2:30pm kick off.

Scunthorpe travelled to Dewsbury to play Shaw Cross on Saturday. Newcomers to the Rugby League Conference this season, Shaw Cross are well known within amateur Rugby League as a breeding ground for Professional players, with such names as Sky Sports Mike Stephenson [Stevo] and current England International Lee Gilmour coming through their junior ranks. The senior side are represented in the BARLA National Conference, and have also played in the Rugby League Challenge cup in recent years.

Scunthorpe travelled with the most depleted squad so far this year due to injuries, work commitments and other factors. Although training sessions have been few and far between due to a sparsity of numbers, the side have been successful in their first two games of the season, defeating Barnsley and Bradford Victoria Rangers.

Scunthorpe won the toss and allowed their hosts to kick off, this choice being vindicated straight away as a penalty was awarded for an infringement at the kick. Karl Clayton gained great pitch position from this, and the visitors opened their account for the afternoon with Lewis Jones finishing a team move after Danny Cribbis and Gav Kempthorne had provided the initial impetus for Scunthorpe.

The next 20 mins were tight with Scunthorpe having alot of the ball and almost scoring through Mark Sherwood who was held up over the line.

Shaw Cross scored after a good run from their left centre but the conversion was missed.

The game remained 4 all until around 35mins when Shaw Cross were given a somewhat contentious penalty, resulting in a quick play of the ball and another try, the hosts then scored two more quick tries after penalties were awarded against the visitors, which, with half time approaching the hosts well in control.

The second half started as the first had finished, as the lack of training time together began to show for the Barbarians. The hosts were by far the better organised of the two teams, and their steady, if unspectacular play showed this.

As injuries mounted up for Scunthorpe with knocks for Kempthorne and Beesley things looked a little bleak, however the problems seemed to bring the best out of the team and several good runs from Gareth Mist and Ian Lee resulted in a try for Andy Linton.

Scunthorpe kept the pressure on and scored again with a dart from dummy half for Mark Sherwood. This stint of sustained pressure continued and Scunthorpe were denied two further trys, one for Sherwood who was held up over the line again and one was from a perfect 3 on 1 situation where the ball failed to find the easy option of Gareth Mist who would have scored for certain and was instead passed out to the also free winger, who was unable to pouch the misdirected pass..

This proved to be the last major attack for Scunthorpe, and as they tired and the lack of injury free personal began to take its toll they allowed Shaw Cross to score several more tries, as the hosts substitutions made the difference.

The game finished 46 – 14 but could have been a lot better for Scunthorpe. It was always going to be tough taking an understrength team to one of the most established setups in the league but it reflects the fighting spirit of the Barbarians that they turned up and gave them a game. This was also highlighted by a grateful home team in the post game entertainment.

Notable games for Gareth Mist who played his first game of the campaign and gave a very solid 80 minute performance, Guy Mychajluk who is improving game by game and gave a very compitant and aggressive 70 minutes and finally Alan Neal who played his first game of league for the Barbarians and looked like he will be an essential asset in the future.

Scunthorpe play at home this week against the always strong Leed Akkies outfit who will be looking to avenge two defeats to the Barbarians last season.

Although a few senior players will be missing it is hoped that a strong side will be put out, and the Barabarians welcome any support wishing to come and watch.

Kick off will be at 14:30 and the game will be played at the Burringham pitches located next to Ashby Decoy Golf Course.

Scunthorpe Barbarians v Bradford Victoria Rangers.

Ashby Decoy. Saturday May 8th 2010

The Barbarians kicked off their home campaign in this seasons Rugby League Conference Yorkshire Regional Division with a visit from division new boys Bradford Victoria Rangers, who had done well in the Merit League in 2009.

With a brisk wind blowing across the pitch, it was the home side who had first use of the ball, receiving it from the kickoff and driving to midway inside the Rangers half before running out of tackles to use. The visitors were kept pretty much in check on their first use of the ball, and after regaining possession on halfway, the hosts scored their first try of the game, coming after good work on the right hand side which saw Karl Clayton break through the defence to score under the posts, and he also successfully tagged on the conversion.

The home fans didn’t have too long to wait for the second try, with Clayton once again providing the impetus to go forward before offloading to centre Andrew Linton, who ran unopposed to the tryline from midway inside the visitors half to touch down to the right of the posts. Clayton once more added the extra points.

It wasn’t all one way traffic, and some excellent work from the visitors, saw them put pressure on the Scunthorpe defence for the first time, and just before the halfway point, they got on the scoreboard, with a try coming from close range on the Barbarians right wing. It was far enough out for the conversion to be unsuccessful.

On the Barbarians next possession, the referee adjudged that there was an infringement at the play the ball from one of the Bradford defenders, with him being sent from the field for 10 minutes for what was termed as interference.

It didn’t take long for the hosts numerical advantage to come to fruition, with Karl Clayton once again finding the space in the defensive line to force his way over on the right hand side. He was unsuccessful with the conversion attempt.

With time running out on the sin bin, the hosts put the visitors to the sword once more, with Andrew Linton scoring on the overlap on the right wing. Ian Lee was unsuccessful with the conversion attempt.

With the man returning from the sin bin, Bradford made the even numbers work in their favour, when their fullback found space in the defensive line and scored under the posts. The conversion attempt was successful, and this brought the half to an end, with Scunthorpe leading 20-10.

On the first possession of the second half, Scunthorpe were on the scoresheet once more, with veteran hooker Duncan Henderson burrowing his way over from dummy half and forcing his way through the defensive line to touch down. Ian Lee added the extra points and opened up his scoring account for the season in the process.

The advantage gained by the score didn’t last long, with Bradford scoring their best try of the game, with their prop forward bounding over from 20 yards out, the strength of his run sending the Scunthorpe defence bouncing off in all directions. The addition of the conversion, closed the gap to 10 points once more.

In what seemed like a breakneck start to the half, the Barbarians were back on the scoresheet almost immediately, with excellent decision making once more from the home half back partnership allowed winger Gav Draper to find his way through the congested defence and touch down for his first try for the club. An unsuccessful conversion left the visitors needing three scores to get back in front.

It was plainly obvious that the next try would have a lot of influence on the outcome of the game, and it came from a strange refereeing decision. A wide pass was seemingly knocked forward off Andrew Lintons hands, and with the defence stopping for what they believed would be a scrum to the defence, but the whistle didn’t come, and Nathan Clarke was left free to score on the right hand side. Ian Lee added the extras.

The hosts concluded their scoring with 13 minutes left on the clock. Lewis Jones, playing at full back instead of

in the half backs, wormed his way through the defensive line and scored in the corner. Ian Lee was unable to add the extras, and with time running out, the hosts were 40-16 in front.

On their next set of 6, the visitors were on the scoresheet once more. An overlap on the right hand side allowed a reverse pass to the onrushing second row, who scored his sides 4th try of the day. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

With two minutes left on the clock, the scoring was concluded, when a Bradford substitute forced his way through to the left of the posts, and this was converted.

Final Score 40-26

Man Of the Match – Karl Clayton
Gamebreaker Moment – Gav Drapers try in the 46th minute, which took all momentum away from the visitors, and allowed the hosts to keep their scoring advantage.

Next Game – Saturday 15th May 2010, Shaw Cross Sharks [A]. The Barbarians visit Dewsbury and Shaw Cross for the first time, with both teams taking unbeaten records into the fixture.