Hullensians Friendly

Ionians travelled to their local rivals on yet another bright, calm still day. Their squad was a little down on usual numbers, as half term and injuries had depleted numbers.

From the kick off, Ionians started well and attacked the Hullensians defence. Initial scrums saw Ionians gain advantage and they were also dominant at the breakdown, so they were able to recycle the ball well and create pressure. After 15 minutes Ionians were 2 converted tries to the good ahead of Hullensians. The first try was an advantage gained from god counter rucking at the breakdown, Flanker Archie Smeaton gathering the ball and setting off on a maizy run, that saw him beat men and breakthrough numerous tackles to score over the line.

The second try came from a Hullensians boot upfield, relieving pressure on their line, Josh Hunt gathered the ball and ran past a couple, passed inside to Danny Couch who was well tackled, the ball was taken on by the forwards, and ultimately came backwards to Toms Vickops who was left with a 2 to 1 overlap, and with the winger committing to the outside Toms ran through to score. Both tries converted by Stand off Charlie Kirk. Tackling was good at this stage and distribution also strong, though a couple of final passes went a stray when more scoring opportunities beckoned.

The last 10 minutes however, saw Hullensians, come more and more into the game. A scrum on the Ionians 22, saw an excellent training move, with the centre crashing through to breach Ionians defence. In the final minute of the first half, again from a set scrum, the winger came down the blind side to score in the corner. Unfortunately the 2 tries went unconverted, so the half time whistle was blown at 14 to 10 in favour of Ionians.

Hullensians players now fancied their chances, and the talk at the break was about Ionians looking tired. However, more or less straight from the restart, Ionians re established their lead. A jolting tackle by Brad, saw the ball come free and Charlie Kirk scoop it up to run in from 25 yards down the line. 19 to 10.

Credit to Hullensians they came back again, and put Ionians under pressure. Some strong tackles, Elliott, Toms, Charlie C, Danny B and Archie kept them at bay, temporarily, however, a quick recycled ball enabled Hullensians to make the space to breach Ionians line. 19 to 17 as the score was converted.

Ionians pressed again, and to relieve pressure on their line, Hullensians cleared down town, while the ball went through Full Back Danny Couch legs initially, he had the calmness to collect it, and as the Hullensians over committed on the chase, suddenly Danny had open field in front of him, and half the pitch to run. He pinned his ears back and left the defenders chasing in his wake. Importantly with kick being near the posts, Charlie Kirk slotted the conversion to give Ionians a 9 point lead.

Olly Painter saved a try for Hullensians with desperate tackles, however, the final try of the game went to the home side, with minutes to play. 26 to 24.

From the restart Ionians managed to keep the ball deep in Hullensians territory, and while a final break appeared this was ultimately settled by a crunching tackle from Ted Timmins

A strong contest, with some great rugby and commitment from both sets of players, and return fixture is to be arranged in due course

Try Scorers
Archie Smeaton, Toms Vickops, Charlie Kirk, Danny Couch

Conversions
Charlie Kirk 3

Man of Match
Archie Smeaton