Scarborough RUFC slip to 61-20 defeat at Moortown

Tom Ratcliffe scored the first try for Scarborough RUFC in the 61-20 loss at Moortown

Matty Jones’ side arrived at Moss Valley, having welcomed back a couple of familiar faces to the starting line-up, writes Charlie Hopper.

His side got off to the worst possible start early on as they fell 5-0 down in the first 10 minutes. The home side collected the ball in the middle of the park, broke through the tackles with the fullback collecting and scoring.

The lead was extended even further just minutes later with a converted try. The ball seemed to drift forward, but the winger collected to fall just short of the line. The ball was worked along the line before the opposite winger scored for a 12-0 lead.

The lightning start continued with another converted try from the centre to give the home side a commanding 19-0 lead.

In the 23rd minute, the fly-half was called into action again, this time slotting a penalty between the posts for 22-0.

Scarborough got themselves on the board in the 24th minute through Tom Ratcliffe.

Having gone close earlier on, the ball found its way into the hands of Joe Marshall and he offloaded for Ratcliffe to score. The conversion drifted wide for 22-5.

The final action of a pulsating first-half came in the form of an unconverted try for the home side.

The ball bounced free in the middle of the park where the centre collected and broke clear to score out wide.

The second half started in the perfect way for Jones and his side with a try in the 43rd minute, Tom Anderson collecting the ball on the wing and scoring in the corner.

Scarborough were once again in a dangerous position and began shifting the momentum to score their third try of the match.

Ratcliffe went close before veteran Mikey Readman collected and powered over from close range. Tom Harrison added the extras to leave his side trailing 27-17.

The Silver Royd outfit then went within touching distance of their opponents courtesy of a penalty from Harrison to close the deficit to 27-20.

The home side responded in dramatic fashion with five unanswered tries to stretch their lead to 56-20.

The final action of the match came in the form of another unconverted try for the Moortown to give them a commanding 61-20 victory.

Scarborough are back on the road next weekend for their penultimate match of the season, against fourth-placed Heath.