Ref costs rugby 2nds a draw

University of York 2nds 12 - 19 Northumbria University 4ths

In a game described by 1sts captain Mike Callis as "lost in the first 25 minutes", a new-look York 2nds side were extremely unlucky not to get the draw their solid second half performance deserved, and if it weren't for the referee, they just might have.

With almost half the starting line-up new to the squad, the inexperience exploited so tellingly by Sheffield Hallam a fortnight ago was once again plain to see. York's late start to the term meant this was only the team's second game compared to Northumbria's fourth, and the visitors showed no signs of curtailing their three-game winning streak. Northumbria piled the pressure on from the off, capitalising on scrappy York handling to disrupt the disjointed backline. Defensive kicking was poor, contrasting unenviably with Northumbria's accuracy, which quickly paid off when a neat up-and-under sent the red-shirted away pack crashing over in the York left-hand corner.

York kept possession well from the restart, with strong running from Ed Druit at fifteen and Doorsafe regular but rugby newbie Lionel Owusu on the wing. These bursts lacked penetration though, as York remained pinned inside their own half, and soon Northumbria struck again, exploiting a bunched York defence to touch down their second try in the opposite corner.

After a word under the posts from coach Alec Porter, York improved dramatically, with excellent pressure down the right wing from the kick. However, a poor line-out soon returned the ball to the visitors, who charged straight down the same wing and were rewarded with a penalty for an illegal Owusu tackle, despite several equally high Northumbrian challenges going unnoticed. Once the visiting forwards saw the line, they simply bulldozed through as York's defence buckled in the centre, leaving the half-time score a demoralising 19-0.

After the break, a significantly reorganised backline saw Alex Thornton coming on in the centre, and with Owusu replaced by scrum-half Tom Buggy, captain Sam Dudley moved from nine to the wing. Although this change initially appeared to leave York leaderless at the breakdown, panic was soon replaced by cool heads and with them cohesion.

Before his substitution for injury, winger Brad Voigt put in some excellent, jinking runs down the left, ultimately concluding a brilliant passage of play with a sprint to the corner and a pop inside to number twelve Olly Tilney, who steamed in to put the first home points on the board. A clinical conversion by fly-half James Mortimer cemented the move, and the fightback was on.

York dominated the rest of the match, with sustained possession bringing unrelenting pressure onto the Northumbrian defence, but the hosts' renewed vigour was not to be instantly rewarded. Eventually though, York secured a line-out on the left, and capitalised on the intimidating presence of the watching first team to send Tilney, now on the wing, crashing over in the corner for his and York's second try. Unfortunately, the distance proved too great for Mortimer to convert again, making it 19-12, but with little time left for the two scores needed for a home win.

Maintaining the pressure after the kick-off, York moved the ball well across the backline, but failed to find an opening in the visitors' tight defence. Determined not to lose out on a tantalisingly close possible draw, two York players charged down a Northumbrian kick, and Tilney was again one-on-one with his opposite number.

Fumbling the ball at the crucial moment, he was forced back towards his own try line to re-gather it, but was dragged to the floor, yards away from the ball. Incredibly, the referee completely failed to see this, being much too far from the action at the time, and his touch-judge did nothing to alert him to the blatant foul. Escaping the glaringly obvious penalty decision, Northumbria were able to regain possession and kick all the way to the York try line, where the ball was touched down by the defence and the game unceremoniously ended.

Had the correct decision been made, York could easily have added the converted try needed to tie the game, and it is at best disheartening that they were denied given the chance to do so. Speaking after the game, man of the match Olly Tilney - new to the team this year - took a surprisingly philosophical attitude to the costly refereeing debacle: "It could've been a nice penalty; a chance to run at them one last time. It was nice to get a couple of tries, shame it couldn't be three." Shame indeed, particularly given the low self-confidence of a side still finding its feet in a new division. However, as captain Sam Dudley rightly pointed out, "The team can only be positive given the last twenty minutes. We did crash ball well, good defence, and they hung on by the skin of their teeth."

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