Scarborough RUFC coach Matty Jones proud of makeshift team’s efforts in final league game of season

Due to the late rescheduling of the fixture, Jones was forced to re-shuffle his side, with players travelling from as far as Manchester for the match and he was full of pride after the full-time whistle, writes Charlie Hopper.

He said: “We worked really well to get back in the game because we obviously didn’t start very well but I thought that the way we attacked was great and it was good running rugby.

“Both teams wanted the win at the end, but a couple of mistakes and penalties cost us really, but they did well to get up the pitch and take the penalty to win the game.

“It’s the second time it’s happened this season and it doesn’t get any easier, but it is what it is, and it was a great performance from the lads who showed up.”

Skipper Drew Govier was forced to play in the centre with his brother moving to full-back, along with a few other players playing out of position, and Jones is hopeful that he can begin to build depth in the squad ahead of next season.

The Scarborough RUFC coach added: “Taking the game with only two weeks’ notice is tough but what we’ve said is that we wouldn’t have had a game if the lads hadn’t made the effort to come from Manchester and Leeds.

“We’ve had loads of people playing out of position so to have the flexibility was fantastic and it definitely feels like we are building depth in certain positions.

“To build on that for next season should be really good."

In terms of his own plans following the end of the season, Jones will be preparing for some downtime before pre-season starts in the summer.

He added: “We’ve still got a touring team coming up and then we’ve got Mo and Keith’s match as well which is close to people’s hearts.

“Once we get those games out of the way then it’ll be a lot of family time and trying to catch up after what has been a long season."