Goole followed up their National Cup success last week with a high scoring Yorkshire Shield win against a competitive Hullensians side at Westfield Banks on Saturday with a more recognisable team performance despite yet more squad changes. The experienced Steve Morris, Craig Hutton and Craig Fenton retained their places following outstanding contributions in the previous cup win, whilst the returning Eddie Newsum and James Walton boosted the side that included Ryan Lamb playing at No 8.
With Goole fielding an almost identical back line to the previous week they certainly stepped up to the plate this week demonstrating their quality by running in seven of the eight tries Goole scored in the match with Matty Lill, Sam Smith and Josh Malcolmson looking particularly dangerous whenever they had the ball in hand. Whilst Goole will be disappointed to have conceded five tries in the game, it just shows that there is still work to be done to achieve the high target standard set by Head Coach Greg Bone who is now ably supported by an experienced coaching / management team consisting of James Ruhmann, Tat Hancox and Huwie Davies.
As the match started it was Hullensians that dominated possession as they went through a number of phases making ground but never really penetrating the Goole defence. Its was however a Hullensian's error that gifted Goole the opening 6th minute try as Sam Smith intercepted a pass to score as the away team tried to run the ball out from their own 22, 7-0. To their credit Hullensians continued to run the ball and were rewarded for their endeavours when following a scrum, they got the ball to their speedy winger who ran in from 40m for an unconverted try, 7-5, mid-way through the first half. Whilst the away team still had a reasonable amount of possession, it was now a time for the Goole backs to show their quality as they breached the Hullensian defensive line frequently to run in three more tries before half time. The best coming from Matty Backhouse in the corner followed by two more tries from the lively Josh Malcolmson to bring the half time score to 26-5.
The 2nd half started similarly to the first with Hullensians on the offensive as Goole struggled to come to terms with numerous team and positional changes. It was therefore no surprise that Hullensians got their reward with an unconverted try, 26-10. To their credit Goole came back immediately with a lovely ball-in-hands try from Aaron Jerry-Murray after slick hands from Smith and Lill, 33-10. Whilst this could have been the start of a rout, Goole seemed to switch off as the earlier team cohesion went out of the window and they turned into a collection of individuals. Hullensians took full advantage scoring two converted tries to bring the score to 33-24 and, all of a sudden, it was “game on” again. Thankfully the Goole ship steadied when they reverted back to its first half positional set-up and went on to score three more converted tries with the first from Olly Johnson, a second try for Jerry-Murrey who was rewarded following a kick chase that pressurised the last defender into fumbling the ball over the try line. The eighth and final try deservedly going to Sam Smith as a reward for the overall effort and commitment that he put into his game. Hullensians to their credit battled to the end to score once again to bring the final score to 54-31
As is often the case in rugby, the “brylcreme boy” backs took the glory, but we should not overlook a solid performance from the forwards once again. James Walton made ground with every carry whilst Steve Morris defied his years to have an excellent all-round game. Add to that Lamb in the unaccustomed No8 position and Scott Ross starting at flanker, this was a first-class team effort and a significant step forward for the whole squad.