Exactly three months ago, Brods traveled to York and were beaten convincingly 70-0. The Woodhead side have had a significant change in form since their September blues, winning 9 out of their last 10 games.

The game was scrappy for the opening quarter, with both sides making fundamental errors that prevented good chances from being converted into points. Michael 'Piggy' Briggs threatened the York defensive line from the outset by beating numerous opponents, but the final pass to Jasper Ayrton did not go to hand.

Anton Gaughan left the field after 15 minutes with concussion after being tackled into touch and unable to play on, Briggs then moved from the centres to the wing.

Strong running from Pete Williams up the hill put York on the back foot and allowed the backs to spread quick ball for Briggs to score in the corner. Greg Roper missed the difficult conversion from the touchline.

York responded immediately as they capitalised on the ill discipline of the Brodleian pack by scoring a try and converting to take the lead by two points. The momentum stayed with York as they kicked with purpose and made life difficult for Brods to get out of their own half. Five minutes before half time York scored another try and successfully converted. The half time score: Brods 5 - 14 York.

The home side came out all guns blazing down the slope as Briggs scored a try off of the back of quick, clean rucking and crisp handling. Roper nailed the difficult conversion on the left touchline to reduce the deficit to 2 points.
Briggs looked set to grab his third try of the game, but offloaded to Captain Dave Spivey for a try under the posts; a few would say such a gesture was a sign of Briggs' unselfishness, others would rightly argue that it was a classic case of jug avoidance! Roper added the simple extras.
York attacked the slope and worked well to get inside the Brods 22. Gareth Moger was yellow carded for an infringement at the ruck.

In what can only be described as a calamity of errors, Brods gifted 7 points to York after an unsuccessful pass from the base of the scrum was pounced on by an opponent. Brods 19-21 York.

With 10 minutes to go, fly half Zak Thomson utilised turnover ball to attack the opposition backline from 65 metres out. Thomson gave a show and go to dance through the defensive line, demonstrating good pace to score under the posts. Thomson converted his own try to give Brods a 5 point lead.
York were on the ropes for the last 10 minutes of the fixture and Briggs exploited this by scoring a further 2 tries out wide to finish off an outstanding personal performance. Thomson successfully kicked one of the difficult conversions to make the final score Brods 40-21 York.

FINAL THOUGHT

Pete Williams, Gareth Moger and Laurie Hamer put in strong performances in the pack that allowed Brods to get on to the front foot. Zak Thomson is developing well making the transition from Colts to senior rugby. Michael Briggs was the clear cut man of the match as he completely dominated the opposition to score 4 quality tries.