Rugby 2nds batter St. John

Rugby 2nds achieve an emphatic win

Last Wednesday, York Men's 2nds continued their good run of form to thump Varsity rivals St. John 43-5 in an assured and comprehensive victory at 22 Acres.

York hit the ground running, notching up a try in just four minutes through winger Peter Spanker's weaving and dodging run. And with the poor St. John restart going straight down the throat of York fullback Tom Buggé, things augured well for the home side from the off.

Another York try on the ten-minute mark and excellent scrummaging against a bulkier pack only confirmed this early dominance, but soon it was the visitors striding forward and pressuring the defence. Replicating York's second score, St John hit back via good off-loading in the tackle and a burst of pace down the wing, bringing the score to 10-5 after a quarter of the game.

The visitors continued to pin York back in their 22, but the excellent defence constantly denied their efforts. Soon their frustration boiled over, as the St. John centre attempted to kick the ball out of the hands of York 10 Matt Pollen, earning himself a spell in the sin bin. York used the penalty to kick to touch far down the field, and built on this new platform to send winger Pete Terrager over unopposed on the left.

With the conversion added by inside centre Jack Miles, his cheeky celebration clearly reflected York's confidence and enjoyment, as two minutes later another ducking and diving run by Spanker up the right wing sent flanker Will Tate over to gain just rewards for excellent support play. Despite St. John's defence not being as disciplined as York's, St. John staved off any more concessions before the break, leaving the score 24-5 at halftime.

Immediately after the pause, outside centre Ryan Johnston burst through the middle of the park, and surprisingly kept the ball alive with a long, hopeful pass out of the tackle, and Buggé eventually finished the move in the left-hand corner. After this, Buggé really hit his stride and quickly broke the St. John line twice more, but the support players were unable to complete his good work.

St. John refused to lie down however, and picked up the pace, flying in with challenges and pushing York back onto their own try-line. Desperately gunning for the try, the visitors more than deserved it for their effort, but their skills denied them. Having dropped the ball no less than three times when through to score, St. John resorted to crash ball, but the York defence was more than sturdy enough to cope with the forward onslaught, and patiently waited more than ten minutes to relieve the pressure with a big kick to halfway.

Buggé capitalised on the change in momentum to burst through again, and was only brought down by an insanely high tackle by his opposite number. But immediately the York 15 got up and chased back more than half the pitch to dive on a St. John attempt to kick pressure away.

Having held the visitors back for so long, York now let rip in attack, Miles stepping his man in the centre of the field to another gleeful celebration and setting Pollen free to weave over under the posts. And finally, Buggé got a deserved second try to fittingly round off the game 43-5 to York.

Speaking on their season of two halves, 1sts captain Mike Callis said, "We had a late start and weren't cohesive at the beginning of the season because we hadn't had chance to practise together, plus the 2nds had moved up a division from last year. But the break for Christmas and a couple of wins have made a world of difference."

And so, apparently, has the switch from 10 to 15 for Buggé. After the game, captain Sam Dudley, happily proclaimed him the "absolutely brilliant" man of the match "by a mile". His inspiring determination was an excellent exponent of the quality that has deservedly lifted the 2nds to mid-table safety come the business end of the season.

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