Counties 4 Yorkshire
Hessle RUFC 31 Hornsea RUFC 36
With both sides in search of their first league victory of the season, the sun was glistening on the Humber as the two sides ran out on a glorious afternoon at Livingstone Road for the much anticipated derby match.
With the kick off Hessle got on the front foot in the early exchanges and following an early penalty conceded by Hornsea, the Stags took a quick one and some good hands found their centre who made a mazy run to the try line for the opening score, 5:0.
This seemed to gee up Hornsea who then worked the ball downfield, an excellent Joe Andrew miss pass saw Brandon Leggett take the ball at pace, with only some brave Hessle defence keeping the elusive running centre out.
It was Hessle’s turn to attack again, and they increased their lead after twenty two minutes following a long kick downfield not being dealt with by the Hollismen and when the ball reached the Hessle backs the centre again cut a nice line to score under the posts which was duly converted to give the home side a 12:0 advantage.
On the half hour mark Hornsea finally got on the scoresheet with a try from last seasons leading try scorer Andy Finch who finished well out wide following some crisp handling by the Hornsea backs after Dan Wilkinson, Steve Arnott and David Ashbridge had won the ball for Hornsea, 12:5.
On the thirty eighth minute Hessle increased their lead with another try out wide as Hornsea ran out of numbers defending giving them a 17:5 lead.
However, their was still time for a further try in the half, a crucial one, which went to Hornsea, with Captain Ed Webster crashing over from close range following good work by Salvidge, Hodgson and Forbes. Will Marshall added the extras to take the score to 17:12 in Hessle’s favour at the interval.
Coach Jonty Ashton tried to instil belief to the players during half time that this game was theirs to be won if they wanted it, which seemed to rouse the players as they were about to restart the match.
It was Hornsea who opened the scoring in the second half with a try for the big man, Graeme Shepherd, following some fine work by flanker Phil Walker in the loose, who powered over from ten yards out taking two or three Hessle defenders with him over the line in the process, to bring the scores level at 17:17.
Hornsea then took the lead for the first time in the match in the 48th minute, with a try by the impressive Brandon Leggett following good work by his centre partner James Baker, Stamford and McCoubrey to give the Hollismen a 17:22 lead.
The lead changed hands a further four times in the remaining half hour with both sides going for the win but also making costly mistakes.
On the hour mark Hessle scored under the posts as Hornsea were unable to stop them as they powered over, the try being converted to give the hosts a 24:22 advantage.
Hornsea hit back five minutes later with Andy Finch’s second try of the match. Adam Groom and Nathan Edmond had both come on for Hornsea and we’re both involved as Hornsea won the ball and when Marshall spun the ball wide, good hands saw the ball reach Finch who used all of his pace and excellent running lines to score out wide, Will Marshall smashed an impressive long conversion over to regain the lead for Hornsea, 24:29.
With the game petering out it looked like the scoring was over and the points were heading to the coast, but there was still time for two more tries.
Disaster struck for Hornsea in the 77th minute when Hessle took the lead with a try under the posts with just three minutes of the match remaining, following a brief pinball style moment when both sides fly hacked the ball to each other twice in succession with no side seeming able to pick up the ball, two Hornsea committee members were seen to slump down over the spectator advertising hoardings, thinking the match was now lost, reminiscent of Kevin Keegan when his Newcastle United side squandered a lead in the famous 4:3 match with Liverpool in 1996. Hessle now led 31:29.
However, Hornsea had other ideas, Captain Ed Webster gave a final rallying call just before the restart and Will Marshall kicked deep from the kick off with the Hollismen needing to win the ball back to give them an opportunity. Hessle were penalised with about a minute to go. Too far out for a penalty kick effort, Webster instructed Marshall to find touch, which the young scrum half did to fine effect putting the ball right in the corner.
Now it was training ground stuff, one play left, a line out on the opponents five meter line, a try needed to win the game. The wily campaigner Phil Walker gave the perfect throw, the take, at full stretch, by the impressive Captain Ed Webster was copybook, as soon as Webster hit the deck his pack were around him, the ball was worked to the back of the maul with Walker on hand to drive over from two yards out to score much to the dismay of Hessle, Will Marshall kicked a sublime conversion to give Hornsea a memorable 31:36 victory.
This really was a thrilling encounter, error strewn in places, but both sides showed real attacking intent, as they both clearly wanted the win, the game was played in good spirits, 11 tries were scored in all, Hornsea getting 5 league points, with both sides gaining a bonus point for scoring 4 tries, Hessle picked up a further bonus point for loosing by less than 7 points. This was Hornsea’s fourth successive win over Hessle, who have had the upper hand in these derby battles over the years.
Speaking after the game Hornsea Captain Ed Webster was ecstatic and somewhat relieved his side had got the win, and said, “We got out of jail with that last play, but a win is a win. We’ll take the positives, work on the negatives but at the end of the day it’s a bonus point win for the Hollismen”.
(Many thanks to club photographer, Carl Wiles, for making the trip and taking some fantastic action shots)