Goole Seal Opening Day Victory at Moortown

Following a somewhat indifferent series of pre-season games and the unavailability of several key players Goole could not have chosen a more difficult start to their Regional 2 NE league campaign as they travelled to last season’s runners-up Moortown.
Five youngsters were making their first team league debuts, Harvey Blyth at off-half and 17 years old open side flanker Ashton Neal in the starting line-up, plus Olly Pearson, Olly Sugden and Louis Greaves on the bench, this certainly was a baptism of fire. With the inclusion of Reece Almond and Sam Thurlow in the forward pack, both making a very welcome return to the first team after injury adding to the apprehension of the large travelling Goole support, no one could have predicted how the match would unfold.
As it turned out, any fears were immediately forgotten as Goole started the match with confidence and competently dealt with the Moortown kick off to work their way downfield with multiple phases of play that the home team struggled to cope with. The outcome was an opening try for Matty Lill who slipped through the attempted tackle to score after just three minutes of the game for Goole to take an unexpected 0 – 5 lead.
This was certainly the boost that Goole needed with the restart being dealt with in a similar fashion seeing Goole pushing Moortown into their own half and forcing a goal line drop out. Whilst the home side cleared their lines the pressure was soon back on when Goole stole a lineout on half-way and won a penalty in midfield for Rhys Moore to kick to take the score to 0 – 8 after thirteen minutes.
Moortown were having great difficulty making any headway against the well organised Goole defence and as a result their only threat came from penalty kicks into the Goole 22 and resulting lineouts from which they had no success. If there was any concern about the introduction of the new tackle height restriction, they were generally forgotten as the Goole tacklers took the legs of the Moortown ball carriers making progress impossible. When Goole had possession there were numerous willing ball carriers with Lill and Sam Smith prominent in the backs, and Tink Taylor and Jack Smith in the forwards, all very difficult to prevent getting over the gain line.
There was no doubt whatsoever that Goole were winning the breakdown with Neal, Almond, Thurlow and Coates generally being the first to each and every breakdown preventing Moortown securing any quality possession or quick ball. There was also a sigh of relief when it came to the scrums where, despite the changes, they coped extremely well with props Jason Blanchard and Ryan Lamb more than holding their own.
Whilst the Goole lineouts were somewhat hit and miss this did not have a negative impact on the overall team performance with play generally in the Moortown half, so it was no surprise when crisp handling by the back line resulted in Billy Walker going over in the corner for Goole’s second try. The excellent touch line conversion by Rhys Moore giving Goole a healthy 0 – 15 lead mid-way through the first half.
For the remainder of the first period, it was essentially more of the same with the Moortown threat being restricted to kicks into the Goole 22 either for an attacking lineout that produced no reward throughout the match due to the strong organised Goole defence and Danny Holt taking care of any kicks in open play.
Goole were clearly the better side and looked like they would be the next team to score as they threatened several times, but to no avail as the half ended with Goole leading 0 – 15.
The home team made changes at half time with the scrum looking stronger as Goole were put under a little pressure and conceding penalties that allowed Moortown to gain the ground that they had been unable to achieve in open play. With the home team on the front foot for the first time in the game they pressed hard for a score but struggled to find any openings in the Goole defensive line.
This period of Moortown pressure resulted in a yellow card for the impressive Sam Thurlow and a five-metre scrum for the home side but despite their man advantage they failed to come away with any points and Goole cleared their line. Mid way through the second half Olly Sugden came on in the second row to bring Goole back to full strength with the game evenly matched and the home team left winger looking dangerous with some impressive kick returns.
It was however Goole that scored next with an excellent deep kick into the Moortown 22 by Moore that bounced awkwardly but was somehow gathered by the chasing George Bastow who offloaded to the supporting Lill to go over for his second try of the game. The successful conversion from Moore bringing the score to 0 – 22 with the home team becoming ever more frustrated, the referee becoming the target for what the home team players, coaches and supporters saw as a number of close calls going against them.
Goole’s third seventeen-year-old debutant Olly Pearson came on at scrum half and was immediately in the thick of the action as the Moortown player’s discipline began to decline with two yellow cards in quick succession, one immediately changed to a red after the player’s reaction to the yellow. The red card then brought about a partial walk-off the pitch in protest by half of the home team with the panto season coming early.
Thankfully after an exchange of dialogue between the referee and home team players and officials, the game restarted with some confusion as to how many Moortown players and coaches had been yellow or red carded. However, despite the chaos Goole just got back to doing what they had been doing so well throughout the game as they pressed for another score with their fifth first team debutant Louis Greaves now in the mix.
With space now available, the travelling Goole supporters did not have to wait long after for another score after Bastow made good ground and Greaves was brought down short of the line, but the recycled ball went through the entire back line for Walker to score his second try in the opposite corner. 0 – 27.
The game now entered its final stages as Goole pressed forward again and when a loose ball was gathered by Olly Person with just one man to beat, he checked to put the defender on his heels and then turned on the afterburners to scorch round the defender and under the posts for a try converted by Lill. 0 – 34.
As the game went into its final minute Moortown had to chance to get points on the board with possession over the Goole try line but instead of grounding the ball the potential scorer was wrapped up by the Goole defence as he tried to go under the posts and the referee blew for full time. 0 – 34.
Whilst Moortown will undoubtedly point the finger at the match referee as the major factor in their defeat they should not kid themselves as they were without any doubt the second-best team by some margin. They could not cope with the Goole ball carriers nor the speed at the breakdown and this was undoubtedly one of the best all round team performances for some time. The first half performance, being outstanding with significant contributions from everyone.
To consider this was all achieved with five youngsters making the first team league debuts, with three of them just 17 years old is amazing. Man of the Match contenders were every player in a Goole shirt, the debutants deserve special mention as their contribution was outstanding, but Sam Smith got the nod for his powerful performance in both attack and defence.
Saturday sees the visit of Morley to Westfield Banks, for the first League encounter between the 2 teams in many a year. The 2nd team get their season off to a start with a trip to Doncaster outfit Wheatley Hills