Match Preview Saturday 23rd February Yorkshire 5
Rishworthians’ successful junior section is beginning to pay dividends for the senior side. The club hopes to include another of its top youngsters in the squad for the postponed Yorkshire Five game at home to Mosborough. With winger Alex Fearnley unavailable, the impressive Christus Ferneyhough is named along with five other teenagers in the 20-player squad. Rishworthians last week gave a successful debut to one of his junior team-mates Luke Flanagan, who came on from the bench to replace player-coach Jamie Bloem at stand-off and he retains his place in the squad.
The game is the Copley club’s third in the inter-division games. Unbeaten B section leaders Rishworthians have already beaten A section leaders Halifax Vandals and last week thrashed another A team, Pontefract Pythons, 67 - 0, away from home to retain their 100 per cent league record. In that game Bloem broke the club’s points scoring record. He broke it earlier in the game than originally thought. A mix-up in figures left supporters thinking he broke it with his try at the end of the game, but actually it was at the end of the first half. His first try and conversion meant he equalled Darren Wade’s 282 total and then set a new record with a penalty at the very end of the first half, before adding a further 13 points in the second half.
Match Report
Rishworthians backs, who have dominated for most of the season, had an off-day and it was left to the forwards to take the points in this rearranged Yorkshire Five fixture. The home side dominated possession throughout, but chance after chance went begging in the first half as passing in the backs let them down. This coupled with some excellent tackling by the Sheffield area visitors, belying their lowly position in the A division, left Rishworthians feeling frustrated, particularly in the first half as the break loomed without a score
They had started brightly enough and skipper Gary Morris and teenager Christus Ferneyhough, on his debut, combined well on the right wing before Morris was bundled into touch. Rishworthians continued to get more and more possession but seemed unable to do anything with it. Prop Darren Dawson crashed over but the referee said he was unsighted and called it back. Suddenly with five minutes to go to the break Rishworthians scored two tries. In each case it came from the lineout. Lock Ian Teasdale took two fine lineout catches. Both times the pack came round and drove him over. His second row partner James McDonnell got the touch down on each occasion. Stand-off Jamie Bloem converted both tries to send the home men in with a 14-point advantage.
Half Time Rishworthians 14 - 0 Mosborough
Early in the second period Bloem kicked a penalty to stretch the home lead. But the second half continued very much like the first, with Rishworthians unable to break through.
While the visitors never threatened the home line, their defence was fierce and stood firm time after time. The final try came as another Rishworthian attack broke down. Bloem suddenly slipped out of a tackle and then shrugged off several more to run in at the corner and round under the posts. Bloem converted his own try. In the dying minutes, the Copley men seemed to go to sleep and allowed the visitors to come at them, but the only points they could muster came from a penalty with the last kick of the game.
