Pocklington vs Buccaneers

A beautiful day at another local rival, Pocklington meant the Buccs were hoping to right the wrongs of their defeat in a friendly to Driffield 2nds last week. The Buccs still remain unbeaten in the league and Pocklington Panthers who are teetering towards the top of the pinnacle of English rugby, the Eastern Merit League were hoping to topple us off our pedestal. So the fixture was sure to be a fiery encounter which delivered from an aggression perspective but not necessarily from a quality point of view…

The young Buccs would start the day with the sun at our backs and practically perfect conditions for some free flowing rugby so prepare to be disappointed. Pock kicked us off and the ball was immediately fumbled by Pinder who must’ve been experiencing flashbacks of his naked karaoke exploits which meant the ball went straight into touch to give Pock initial territorial advantage, lovely start. Not to be deterred, the Buccs pressured Pock in defence and despite other reports, defence is an element which is still required at the pitiful standard of Buccs rugby… so we were led by amateurs; Huw, Eagle and Pete which meant we nullified any dangers in their attack. Our continued intent to pressurise their young backs meant we forced a scrum on the halfway line. The strong forward pack of Pock meant the Buccs were close to losing the scrum but similar to Reevesy’s cyst, the ball popped out and into the hands of Sonny Bill Willingham who would hand their fly half off and pop the ball into Alfie’s hands who pinned his ears back and cantered in the 50m to convert his own score, 7-0.

Buccs would collect the next kick off nicely and offload the ball to young power house, Jack Walker who consistently broke the line throughout the game and he marched 20m up the field but our poor management at the breakdown meant we were unable to retain possession. We conceded a penalty for holding on and Pock opted for points. Luckily for us, the kick was pure garbage and we cleared our lines through a 22m drop goal exit. The game continued to be plagued with penalties, knock ons, tantrums, confusion, mismanagement, poor officiating, the list goes on… Pock seemed to get the rub of the green from the officiator who would give Allenby a run for his money for pointless monologues. Which meant despite multiple clean turnovers, we were penalised and subsequently pinned in our own half for some time. However, Pinder and Pete McGlynn would once again come up with the goods after holding one of the Pock forwards up into a maul outside of our 22. We were just about to get the penalty when Ry Platten saw a rogue knee go into Pete’s kidneys and Ry decided to practice some prison discipline by levelling their fly half and sending the young boy to kingdom come. Don’t drop the soap when Ry’s about that’s for sure. Or do, particularly if you’re on a night with Pinds and Dave. Plenty of handbags later and the penalty was reversed. Pock opted for the corner this time but our maul defence remained strong and we were able to turn the ball over and exit comfortably. We finally got the ball in our hands and led once again by young boys, Jack Walker and Josh Dawson we were finally in a position to string together some phases. After sucking in the defence we shifted the ball out to the wing and high flyer, Jez was able to beat his outside man and dot down in the corner to maintain his 100% senior rugby scoring record. Alf converted the extras from the touch line and we went in 14-0 up for half time.

The 2nd half kicked off and we started to show some dominance in the forwards with Ry and Huw killing the Pock forwards at the scrum. Oh to be a forward or imprisoned, one can dream. Unfortunately, we were unable to translate the same effectiveness into the lineout and every time we gained territory we would cough up possession at the lineout. Were we missing Allenby? Maybe… just maybe. Change of tactic and we opted to take more quick taps to speed up the game. Eagle and Pube were eager to get on the ball and gained us some go forward in the Pock 22 off the base of the rucks. We then distributed the ball to the backs and we were half a yard from success. No nonsense, up your jumper pick and go’s and Pete would get a meat pie and reward for his dogged work in defence. Extras missed, 19-0.

We continued to pepper the Pocklington defence with Ryan in the backfield providing much needed coverage and Alex Edwards providing some nice snipes from the base of rucks which began to turn the tide in our direction. There were a few Pocklington white flags with a couple of their players injuring their heads which were somehow located on their knees, so the game was once again very stop and start. Jack Walker would prove the difference and continued his dominant display, he cut a savage line from the half way line which caught the Pocklington defence completely off guard and meant he sprinted in for an excellent score which would seal his man of the match performance for good. Alf converted the score and the bonus point was secured, 26-0. Nonetheless, it wasn’t always one way traffic, after we collected the next kick off we shipped the ball wide and got ourselves back up to a dangerous position. As the ball was shipped to the wing, a wayward kick was put behind the Pock 15 and they managed to gather the ball and take advantage of a lacklustre chase. They executed a simple 3 on 1 and had their MoM fly half dot down for a deserved score to get them off the mark. The score remained unconverted, 26-5.

The final score of the day was started from a quick tap in the opposition half distributed to Pistol Pete who put us within striking distance around 20m out. Josh Dawson provided the next go forward with a hard carry inching us to about 10m out. The ball was then spun out, somewhat poorly by myself with a 25m pass which some how bounced into Alf’s hands who despite a 2 on 1 situation (Ryan you’ll have to wait for your first try kidda), backed himself to touch down in the corner for his 2nd of the day. 31-5, bonus point attained and job done.

The most important and pleasing thing for Ionians is that we’re back to winning ways in our amateur rugby and to put 3 full senior teams out with subs is a feat the club were nowhere near last year and can take pride that things are moving in the right direction. Notable mentions go to Pinder for his diligence in both attack and defence, Josh for a hard as nails performance in centre and Jack, for being absolutely class and Heylings for an outstanding 5 minutes to show off his new tan. I would encourage the old guard of Ionians membership to support some lads who pay to play for the club as opposed to the opposite. The standard might be lower but the heart certainly isn’t. Next week we face Malton at home, see you there Mally.