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Sunday 14th October 2007.
Huddersfield YMCA 10, Ilkley 62
Buoyed by the heroics of the England rugby team the previous evening, the U13s travelled away to play YMCA on Sunday with a squad of 26 players. U13s rugby has become a far more demanding affair this season with the move up to 15 a side and games played on full size pitches. The Ilkley boys are making encouraging strides in this transitional season. This match provided lots of evidence to support such optimism with Ilkley running out convincing winners in a match played in the right spirit by both sets of players. After a thorough warm up and training session focusing on rucking skills, led by head coach , Nick Bell, the boys were raring to go and to begin the match proper. Soon after the opening exchanges, captain Matt Gunnee gathered the ball from the breakdown and, after a strong run, touched down to open the scoring. Fly half, Josh Haigh converted. It was not long before winger Josh Crane followed suit, finishing off a fluent passage of team play with a try in the corner. There was a sense of déjà vu to follow when Josh Crane found himself in similar circumstances and successfully placed the ball once more behind the line for Ilkley’s 3rd try. YMCA did not capitulate and struck back with two tries to even the scores, somewhat, making it 10-17 to the visitors at half time. The second half saw the Ilkley boys run in 7 further tries from Matt Gunnee (2), centre Rob Rekis (2), winger Angus Raby, centre Peter Gouldsborough and fly half Jake Duxbury. Some excellent place kicking resulted in 3 conversions from Josh Haigh and 2 from Jake Duxbury. Whilst space does not allow for all the boys’ contributions to be mentioned, it may be pointed out that the whole squad contributed to a very good team effort. During the post match meeting three awards were made by Nick Bell: men of the match-Mark Burnett and Matt Fowler; champagne moment- Dan Ahmed for passing cleverly out of contact. Following this, players, coaches and parents enjoyed the hospitality provided by Huddersfield YMCA before making their way home to settle in to their respective settees to prepare for viewing the second world cup semi final, the outcome of which will determine England’s opponents in next Saturday’s final in Paris.
Sunday 7th October 2007
Otley 5, Ilkley 49
The final score line was not a good indicator of the quality of rugby played by the home team against neighbouring Ilkley. After an Ilkley kick off the visitors gained possession from a ruck, and a pass to Matt Gunnee saw him break through the Otley defence to score a very quick try under the posts. The conversion was kicked in confident fashion by Josh Haig. The restart saw Ilkley forward Dan Le Roux collect the ball and make a spirited run before passing to Matt Gunnee, who ran in his second try from the half way line. Another conversion by Josh Haig saw the visitors up by 14 points before the home team had got into their stride. However, Ilkley faced a period of sustained pressure from the restart with Otley keeping them pinned at their 22 metre line. Further pressure from the home side resulted in a ruck about 10 metres from the Ilkley line. The visitors were close to conceding their first try when an attempted clearance kick was knocked backwards by an Ilkley player, sending the ball back to the Ilkley line. Against the run of play an excellent recovery by Pete Gouldesborough saw the ball passed to Ilkley winger Angus Raby, who broke out and ran the length of the pitch to score under the Otley posts, with Josh Haig again making the conversion. The restart saw renewed Ilkley pressure, with Callum Doherty and Will Baxter making ground before passing to Jake Duxbury who kicked out well. The subsequent chase down saw Angus Raby bundle an Otley player into touch for a lineout from which Otley won the ball and kicked for touch to gain ground. The resulting lineout saw Otley win the ball and show fine handling skills as the ball was passed out across the line of backs, with a good run being made on the wing before a tackle by Matt Gunnee saw Ilkley regain possession. Two successive fly hack kicks by Callum Doherty saw the ball find touch 5 metres from the Otley line. Ilkley won possession from the lineout and a determined attack by Dan Le Roux saw Ilkley cross the Otley try line but the ball was not properly grounded and Otley touched down the loose ball. The 22 drop out saw Pete Gouldesborough gain the ball and break through on the left wing, ultimately scoring under the Otley posts with Josh Haig again kicking the conversion. Le Roux and Gouldesborough were also involved in the last try of the half, which saw Gouldesbourough pass to Matt Fowler, who made ground before passing to Ben Thorp who was able to score his debut try, with the conversion by Josh Haig putting the visitors 35 points ahead at half time.
The second half saw the visitors initially confined to their own half and under more sustained pressure, which finally resulted in Liam Ward making a good run down the wing to open the scoring for the home side. The difficult conversion kick was missed, but the restart saw Otley maintaining the pressure, with Ilkley back at their 22 metre line. A kick out by James Regan saw a quick return kick which was well taken by Ben Thorp who made an attacking run and then went to ground. Two fly hack kicks by Matt Fowler saw the ball finally picked up by Will Baxter who went on to score, somewhat against the run of play, with a conversion by James Regan. Shortly afterwards the last try of the game came from a good run by Josh Crane, with Matt Gunnee receiving the ball to go on to score with a conversion by Josh Haig seeing the visitors run out victors by 49 – 5.
Sunday 30th September
Baildon Under 13’s 5, Ilkley RFC Under 13’s 42
The Ilkley U13 squad was not seriously troubled by the home team when they visited Baildon on Sunday. After a short period of mixed possession, when Ilkley showed signs of the handling problems that dogged their previous match, Matt Gunnee scored two early tries in quick succession to assert the visitors’ authority, both being converted faultlessly by Josh Haig. The visitors’ dominance continued through the rest of the first half, with play being in the home team’s half for most of the time. Pressure 5 metres from Baildon’s try line culminated in a drive through by Pete Gouldesborough who scored Ilkley’s third try, with a further conversion from Josh Haig. The visitor’s fourth try came from a typical jinking run along the left wing by Rob Rekis, who neatly sidestepped the last Baildon played by cutting inside to score under the posts. Josh Haig again converted flawlessly. Following the restart Ilkley were finally put under pressure by Baildon, who drove the visitors back to their try line. Pressure was eased by a good kick out by Jake Duxbury, and Ilkley were then able to push play back with a further clearance kick. A second attacking kick out by the visitors saw a frantic chase to reach the ball as it bounced towards the home team’s try line, with Josh Haig managing to fall on the ball to score. His subsequent conversion put the visitors ahead by 35 points at half time.
Team changes by both sides saw closer play in the second half, with an excellent tap tackle by Will Muirhead stopping an early Baildon breakthrough. A break down the right wing then saw Baildon score a good try to open their account, but the conversion was missed. Ilkley then threatened to score after a good attacking kick by James Regan saw an excellent run on the left wing by newcomer Ben Thorpe. A subsequent break by Will Briggs looked as if it might result in a try until he was brought down by a crunching tackle which saw him take no further part in the match. The remainder of the half was closely contested. A good break by Will Baxter and an offload to Josh Crane nearly saw Ilkley score, but unfortunately for the visitors the ball was not grounded. The last try of the game was scored by James Regan after consistent Ilkley pressure, including good runs by Will Baxter and Mark Burnett. Regan converted to make the final score 42 – 5 to the visitors.
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