Under 17's Through to Yorkshire Cup Final

Old Brods U17s travelled to Huddersfeld YMCA to contest the semi-final of the Yorkshire Cup, and were victorious with a pulsating 27-26 victory. Opening exchanges were very close, with YM using their large, powerful forwards to gain ground. Brods, meanwhile, looked to use their pacey back line and the wide YM pitch to good effect. The first scoring opportunity came Brods' way with a penalty awarded in a kickable position with Brods opting to kick to the corner, however solid home defence thwarted the attack. Minutes later, YM made ground through their forwards to take the lead with an unconverted try. Brods response was swift; a great turnover ball by Dan Smith resulted in a kick and chase from Ellis Barraclough who outpaced the defence for a fine score. Brods' lineout was functioning well and a catch and drive by the forwards resulted in a try for the impressive Alex Rackstraw. The two evenly matched sides both strove to gain the upper hand, and it was YM next on the scoresheet, bringing the scores to 12 all. A Brods penalty then put the away side in the lead, 15-12 at half time.

The second half saw a poor restart, with YM being on the front foot and, despite desperate defence, the home team went over to take the lead with a converted try under the sticks. This spurred Brods on, who worked the ball well for flying winger, Dakota Wylie, to score a fine individual try. Some poor decision making by Brods allowed YM back in for a further converted try, putting the pressure well and truly back onto the away side. With the clock ticking, a clever kick by Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley put Wylie in for his second try in the corner and, with a difficult conversion required, Maxwell-Whiteley stepped up to the plate and slotted the ball between the posts. A frantic final five minutes ensued, the last play of the game saw a great penalty won by Ed Masters being kicked off the pitch by Maxwell-Whiteley to secure the win for the Brods.

This was a fine result against tough opposition, and sees a second Brods junior team reach the 2016 Yorkshire Cup finals with the U13s appearing in their second successive Yorkshire Cup final next Sunday at Dinnington against Wetherby, kick off 11am.