Goole travelled to high-flying Dinnington who were promoted as unbeaten Yorks 2 Champions last season and were disappointed to come away with a defeat in a close fought encounter. The result disappointingly linked to some questionable referee decisions that ultimately decided the match. In the end Goole came away with a losing, and also a try scoring bonus point in the fiercely fought encounter against a strong Dinnington team who will likely be Championship contenders at the end of the season.
Whilst the tight scoreline accurately reflects the evenly matched teams it certainly didn’t look like that as Dinnington went into a 12-0 lead with two tries in the opening twelve minutes as they capitalised on a slow start by Goole. However, it didn’t take long for Goole to respond thanks to a great line run by Josh Malcolmson following a pass for Rhys Moore to get Goole on the scoreboard 12-7. With the home side in possession and testing the Goole defence, a spilt ball was snapped up by Goole for Malcolmson to run in a try from 80m and give Goole the lead for the only time in the match, 12-14. Goole then started to be penalised and as a result handed the momentum back to Dinnington who took advantage by kicking into the Goole 22 and going over for their 3rd try from a catch and drive that involved so many bodies it looked like a crowd invasion, 19-14. Back came Goole who suffered from the first questionable referee decision at they pressed inside the Dinnington 22 with Malcolmson catching a try-scoring pass to go clear under the posts, just as the referee inexplicably blew to stop the game after having his arm raised for a penalty advantage to Goole. The three penalty points being scant reward, 19-17. As the half came to an end the home side once again used their powerful ball carriers in a series of charges for the Goole try line and were rewarded just before half time when Billy Walker was yellow carded whilst defending the line before Dinnington got over for their 4th try just before the break. Half Time 26-17.

In the early minutes of the second half Goole once again suffered as Steve Morris was penalised following a trivial coming together with an opposition back that would not even justify coming under the category of “handbags”. Dinnington gratefully once again kicked to the corner and line out before muscling over for another close range try, 33-17. Despite the setback Goole immediately responded with a break from Matty Lill who offloaded to Sam Smith to go over for the try, 33-24, with the Goole backs looking dangerous from all areas of the pitch. It was therefore disappointing for the home side to score again with a well-rehearsed penalty kick to the corner, catch and drive, recycle, heavyweight try to stretch their lead to 40-24 after just ten minutes of the second half and what looked like the game in their pocket. The problem for them was that no one told the Goole players who raised their game looking to run with the ball from all areas of the pitch, an objective they achieved with Townend, Lill and Sam Smith at the forefront of many penetrating carriers. With the put-in at a scrum 5m from the home team try line Dinnington were clearly anticipating the pass to the backs, that allowed scrum half Will Devenish to dummy and go under the post to bring the score to 40-31 with 20 minutes of the match remaining and the home team supporters looking somewhat nervous.
Without the benefit of penalties to kick for position, Dinnington were finding it more difficult to sustain any real pressure or threaten the Goole try line. With Goole’s scrum going well despite the numerous exchanges throughout the match it was all to play for and it got even tighter when Will Townend scored their fifth try converted by Rhys Moore who had an excellent 100% kicking success in the match, 40-38. With just two minutes to go it really was all to play for and with Goole now the dominant side you really felt that they could pinch the win after an excellent 50-22 kick from Moore gave them the line out 20m from the try line. With the victory within their grasp, they suffered what the Goole supporters consider to be the third major inexplicable decision by the referee when, with Goole in possession and driving forward some 8m from the home team try line, the referee penalised Goole to allow the home team to kick into touch and win the match. The final “offence” being a shout from a Goole player about “a Dinnington player illegally having his hands on the ball whilst on the ground”. It is a shame that such a tight, hard-fought game should have ended in this way, but credit to both Club's squads of players. This was a cracker of a game and everyone will be looking forward to the return fixture.
Credit all round to the Goole squad, with Olli Pearson sharing the scrum half duties with Will Devenish whilst a rampaging Josh Malcolmson moved to flanker. Excellent scrummaging was also great to see with Will Townend once again leading from the front. Sam Smith was selected by Dinnington as Goole’s Man of the Match and you will not find anyone who would disagree with that as he once again looked dangerous with ball in hand.