Goole secured another bonus try win over a tough and resilient Rishworthian side gaining revenge for the opening game of the season defeat back in September 2022. With the return to the starting line-up for Ryan Lamb, Charlie Walton and Sam Smith, plus the return of Robson Jones and Eddie Newsum to the bench this was a strong starting fifteen and it did not take long for Goole to open the scoring with an opening try from hooker Raymond Coates after just five minutes of pressure. 5 – 0.
With Richworthian’s conceding early penalties they did not get the chance to clear their lines as the early pressure continued and they paid the price conceding a second try from a five-metre lineout catch and drive with Charlie Walton charging over. 10 – 0. Whilst the conversion was unsuccessful again, Goole were very firmly in control during these early stages but to their credit Rishworthian’s finally got some possession and pushed Goole back into their own half missing two very kickable penalties. They did however get on the scoreboard following a well worked line out catch and drive near the corner after Goole had been penalised for a dangerous tackle. The successful conversion bringing the score to 10 – 7 after twenty minutes of play and they were level from the restart as their second row caught the kick and ran fifty metres through a wide-open gap before being brough down with Goole conceding a penalty from the resulting breadown. The penalty bringing the scores level at 10 – 10.
If Goole considered this a setback, they did not show it as they once again took the game into the Richworthian half with Tink Taylor catching a five-metre lineout and powering over for Goole’s third try converted by Rhys Moore to recapture the lead 17 – 10. With possession from the kick off the Goole backs showed their quality immediately getting Goole on the front foot again, so it was no surprise when Goole secured a fourth try bonus point when Jack Smith burst through from halfway and offloaded to the supporting Tink Taylor who charged for the line. With fast recovering backs about to tackle him short of the line he managed to offload to the supporting Sam Smith to touch down under the posts to stretch the lead to 24 – 10. With the half coming to an end Goole managed to cross the line again thanks to another charging carry by Jack Smith who drew the last defender to pass to Billy Walker to score out wide 29 – 10. Back came RisShow Thhworthians in the final minutes of the half to score their third try to bring the half time score to 29 – 17.

If the first half was a defence coaches’ nightmare with the eight tries being scored, the second half proved to be a much tighter affair with points being much harder to acquire. Goole continued to probe for scoring opportunities, but a combination of minor errors, penalties conceded and a below par lineout meant that the effort came to nothing against a very strong away team defence. With Richworthian’s now matching Goole in all areas of the pitch, the two teams nullified any attacking threat and there was not a great deal for the large crowd to get excited about. With the attack failing to create any real opportunities, once again it was the Goole defence that showed its quality as Richworthian’s pushed hard for a try from a five-metre lineout that resulted in Goole hooker Coates being yellow carded for offside. Despite the loss, as in previous matches when they have been one or two men down following yellow cards, Goole did not concede any points as they repelled all efforts by the away team to cross the try line.
With Jason Blanchard coming on at prop after the sin-bin expired, Lamb went to hooker and Eddie Newsum came on in the second row. Robson Jones came on at fullback and looked to rekindle the fire and penetration that Goole showed in the first half. However, despite the changes Goole continued to struggle to penetrate the Richworthian defence but finally managed to get the only score of the second half as Jack Smith showed his quality once again to burst down the right wing to score in the corner from open play to make the final score. 34 – 17.
There were conflicting opinions on the touchline about the quality of the Goole performance with some being frustrated by the number of errors, whilst others were satisfied with a bonus try win against quality opponents. This shows the level of expectancy that we all have in what this squad of quality players can produce. No team can win all their games playing champagne fast flowing rugby in every game, and sometimes you must be able to grind out a result against tough opposition when not playing at your best and that is what this squad of players is capable of.
With the final league game of the season next week at home to Wetherby who’s thirteen match unbeaten run came to an end at Beverley last week, a bumper crowd is expected as Goole endeavour to finish the league season with a flourish.