1st XV Overcome Northallerton With First Class Performance

With five sponsors for the day and a packed clubhouse ready for the England v Italy game, this was a game Goole needed to win to remain top of the league and they did not let anyone down with yet another first class performance in very difficult gale force wind conditions.

Playing into the gale in the first half Goole gave a top class demonstration of how to play rugby against the wind as they retained possession for long periods through good disciplined rugby. However the quality of their ball retention did not stop Northallerton from taking the lead from a scrum in front of the posts that resulted in a try to lead 0 – 7 after 13mins.

If Goole were disappointed to have conceded the try they did not show it as they regained possession from the kick off and went through a number of phases that resulted in a quick tap penalty and Taylor crashed over for an unconverted try 5 – 7. The deep restart kick had Goole back in their 22 as they went through the phases again with willing ball carriers presenting quality ball. This resulted in a number of half breaks to work their way back up the field frustrating Northallerton by depriving them of possession.

From one such foray, Man of the Match Chris Wood found space and offloaded to Beecher who was tackled into touch by the scrambling defence. Northallerton could not deal with the Goole tactics and it was no surprise when Sam Smith broke clear to pass to Barrass who ran in for Goole to take the lead 10 – 7 after 27 mins. What followed for the rest of the half was a continuation of the Goole close game tactics that involved forwards and backs alike. They worked their way up field again and won a penalty that was tapped for James Walton to drive over for Goole’s third try. Once again unconverted as a result of the need to kick into the heart of the gale.

Half Time Goole 15 – 7 Northallerton

Goole had the kick off to start the 2nd half and Moore put a great kick into the corner for Northallerton to try and emulate Goole’s ball retention tactics. Sadly for them they could not go through the same number of phases as the home side, with Wood gaining possession to pass to Taylor to run under the posts for his second try of the game, 22 – 7. Within the next few minutes it was a repeat situation with Northallerton spilling the ball and this time fast hands found Beecher to score a converted try for Goole to lead 29 – 7 after just seven minutes of the half.

It would have been easy for the away side to capitulate but they did not and had the best of the next period of the game as a combination of their “last throw of the dice” approach and Goole possibly switching off for a spell. This resulted in two hard earned unconverted tried for Northallerton to give them a glimmer of hope at 29 – 17.

This minor lapse was soon corrected as Goole went back to playing controlled rugby and another excellent carry and offload by Wood saw James Walton through for his 2nd try of the game to stretch the lead to 36 – 17. From here there was no going back as the home team pressure mounted and they ran in two more tries. The first one from a storming run down the centre field by Taylor had Walker in support to score and then Moore snapped up a loose ball to run under the posts unopposed to bring the final score to 50 – 17.

This was an important win for Goole as they retained their position at the top of the table with just four league games to go. With two away games against quality opposition, there is still a lot to do for this team to do in order to maintain their progress through the divisions.