A 16-7 victory at Roses brought the curtain down on a memorable season for the Men’s Rugby Union 2nd XV, who were unbeaten throughout their BUCS season on the way to clinching the Northern 4A title.
A Joe French penalty was the only score of a closely-contested first half, in which York’s ball handling let them down badly. On numerous occasions York had possession deep in Lancaster territory; however, their inability to do the basics right at the crucial moment, allowed Lancaster to remain in control of the match.
Another French penalty doubled the visitors’ advantage in the early stages of the second half. The turning point of the fixture came as a result of some excellent work from the Lancaster forward pack when a driving maul earned a penalty inside York territory. From the resulting lineout came another dominant maul which rumbled towards the try line and left the referee with no choice but to award a penalty try; extending Lancaster’s lead 13-0.
York lock, Hill was sin binned for his role in the penalty try, reducing the home side to fourteen men for ten minutes. Shortly after Hill’s sinbinning, Lancaster second row, Matt Moore also saw yellow before York cut the lead to just six points. After a period of sustained pressure York’s Hartman breached Lancaster’s defence and reached out to score underneath the posts; setting up a nerve racking finale with Lancaster leading 13-7.
York continued to push for another score to take the lead; however, their handling proved to be an issue once more as Wotton knocked-on with the try line in his sights.
A third Joe French penalty with less than five minutes remaining eased the Lancaster nerves and sealed the victory, avenging last year’s 18-13 defeat. Congratulations to LURUFC 2nd XV on a historic season.
