Scarborough RUFC make winning start to life in Regional One North East at home to Ilkley
Scarborough RUFC made a winning start to life in Regional One North East after picking up an impressive 34-27 win over Ilkley at a packed Silver Royd.
Ben Foden’s side, who have had a mixed pre-season, made a fast start to the game and caught the visitors off guard as they crossed for their first try in the eighth minute. Captain Sam Dawson twisted and turned his way through the tackles before reaching for the line to score. Jack Glansfield added the extras to make it 7-0.
Ilkley, who finished fourth last season, responded with a converted try of their own in the 18th minute when the experienced Ben Magee crossed near the corner. They then took the lead a few minutes later courtesy of a penalty from the boot of Louis Anderson.
Their lead only lasted a matter of minutes, however, as Scarborough responded through Jordan Wakeham. The scrum-half raced clear of the defence to score to the right of the posts.
With Scarborough leading 14-10 and the game heading towards the break, an attacking mistake presented Ilkley with the perfect opportunity to finish the half on a high. They scooped up the loose ball before an offload found Harry Taylor, who scored in the corner. Anderson was unable to add the extras, leaving his side leading 15-14 at the interval.
The second half started in frantic fashion, with both sides exchanging unconverted tries. First, Wakeham doubled his tally with a well-taken try in the corner before Tom Reavey scored in the opposite corner.
The experience of the visitors then began to shine through as they extended their lead to 27-19. Magee raced clear of the defence before offloading for Toby Cole to score.
It was then Scarborough’s turn to battle back into the game. After a Glansfield penalty reduced the arrears to 27-22, his side scored back-to-back tries to open up a 34-27 lead with seconds remaining.
First, Jubilee Soloa reached for the line to score before Jake Lyon twisted in the tackle to go over to the left of the posts.
The final moments were played out in the Ilkley half, with a knock-on bringing proceedings to a close and confirming a memorable opening-day victory for Scarborough.
Scarborough travel to Middlesbrough next weekend looking to build on their opening-day win.