Goole RUFC travelled to local rivals Selby on Sunday to play in the second of their end of season ‘festivals’. Goole travelled with a squad of 23 players, allowing the coaches to enter two teams into the festival. Goole Blues were drawn to play Selby, Scunthorpe and Thorne. Goole Yellows were scheduled to play Selby, Pocklington and Rotherham Phoenix.

Goole Blue’s first fixture was against Thorne. Despite a few early errors, the players from Westfield Banks soon got up to speed and played some outstanding attacking rugby, scoring six excellent tries through Aiden, Alfie L, George G and a hat trick from Vinnie. Final score was 6-1 to Goole.

Goole Yellow’s opening fixture was against Selby. Despite lots of effort and endeavour from Max, Elliot, Jake and Alfie F, Goole were unable to cross the whitewash, with a final score of 2-0 to Selby.

Goole Blue’s second fixture was against Scunthorpe. The opening exchanges saw Scunthorpe use their big ball carriers to crash the ball into contact. However, George G, George P, Lincoln and Noah were outstanding in defence. Goole slowly clawed their way into the game, scoring four excellent tries through Oliver H, Vinnie, Poppy and Alfie L. Final score was 4-1 to Goole.

Goole Yellow took to the field in their second game to play Rotherham Phoenix. Goole were again slow out of the traps, allowing Rotherham to race into an early 2-0 lead. However, Callum lead the fight back with a run from his own try line, before Harvey added a second after a strong run. Rotherham were next to score, but Dylan scored a great individual try to level the scores before Alfie C scored a great solo try to see Goole victorious by 4 tries to 3.

Goole Blue’s final fixture was against Selby. With both teams unbeaten in the festival, it was a shootout for local bragging rights as group winners. Selby started strongly and were rewarded for their efforts with the opening try. This sprung the players from Westfield Banks into action as they played ten minutes of scintillating rugby as they scored four tries without reply. Try scorers were Vinnie, Oliver N and Zac to leave the final score 3-1 to Goole.

Goole Yellow’s final fixture of the festival was against Pocklington. As was the norm at the festival, Goole went behind to an early try before Alfie C soon levelled the scores after a powerful run. Callum scored the second try when he used his ‘goosestep’ to send all the opposition the wrong way allowing him to stroll across the try line. Ted was next to score when he ran half the length of the pitch, leaving a trail of Pocklington bodies sprawled on the floor as Goole took control of the match. Dylan scored next after a great run, followed by a try from Josh when he took a pass and ran down the blindside following a scrum. Further tries followed from Alfie C, Callum and Ted to leave the final score 8-2 to Goole.

The players attitude, application and effort at the festival was outstanding. Over the six games played Goole scored 25 tries’, averaging a little over four per game. Their defence was also excellent, conceding only 10 tries at an average of under two per match.

Goole Blue’s player of the festival was Oliver N for his work at the breakdown.

Goole Yellow’s player of the festival was Dylan for work rate and effort in defence.

The festival also saw Poppy wear the playing colours of Goole for the last time. Due to the RFU playing guidelines, girls and boys can no longer play together once they move up to secondary school. Poppy (and her family) will be sadly missed by all players and families alike, and everyone at Goole RUFC wishes Poppy every success as she progresses to the next stage of her rugby development.

Next week Goole play their final festival of the season when they travel to Hull Ionians.