Sirius Academy West Year 10 Boys through to 1/4 Final of Yorkshire Plate
The Year 10 Boys came back from a 10 point half time deficit to beat Brooksbank High School 30 – 24 in a very evenly matched game in Round 2 of the Yorkshire Plate.
The Year 10 boys were without influential second rowers Kai Green (injury) and Harry Kynman (illness), but welcomed into the squad the talented Leon Stewart from Year 9.
The game didn’t start well for Sirius Academy West as they knocked on from the kick off, which Brooksbank took full advantage of and went over for an early score. Sirius looked dangerous in attack and got into some good field position with strong runs from Brandon Sargesson and Joe Aitcheson. Sirius were awarded a penalty on the 10 meter line and the quick thinking from Taylor Eastwood saw him take a quick tap and dive over in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful to make the score 6 – 4 to Brooksbank. Again from the resulting kick off, Sirius knocked on near their own tryline. They defended well for the first five tackles, but when a penalty was awarded near the tryline Brooksbank took their chance with a quick tap to go over under the sticks as Sirius struggled to get back into their defensive line to make the score 12 – 4. Sirius responded well from this and was rewarded with another try in the corner after a great kick on the last tackle that Tom Boreman reacted to first and grounded the ball. Conversion missed to make it 12 – 8. Brooksbank extended their lead just before the halftime break when another high ball wasn’t dealt with and their resulting set of six saw them go over again, 18 – 8.
Sirius knew that if they cut out the individual errors and started to play out their sets of six in attack then they could easily get back into the game. Credit to the Sirius team, their character and desire shone through right from the start of the second half as they forced the mistake from Brooksbank in their own half. Good runs from Leon Stewart and Matty Coulter got Sirius near the tryline and a smart scoot from Taylor Eastwood got him over for the try. Conversion missed to make the score 18 – 12. Sirius scored from their next set of six to really get themselves back in the game, this time it was smart play from Harry Coulbeck who showed real speed and strength to crash over, Ben Canvass converted to level the scores at 18 all. Sirius were playing with confidence and took the lead for the first time in the match, a ball from Ben Canvass to Taylor Eastwood out wide was kicked through, a few ricochets from both sides saw the ball bounce into the in goal area and Joe Kennedy was the fastest to react and drop on the loose ball to make the score 22 – 18. Sirius thought they had won the game with ten minutes remaining and needed to just control the game, but an offload in an impossible situation gave Brooksbank some hope. Back to back penalties near the Sirius tryline was too much to defend as Brooksbank crashed over to take the lead once again at 24 – 22. The Sirius side was not letting this one slip away and every player gave it their all to ensure they were next on the scoresheet. Jack Wilson Grey and Joe Aitcheson again set the foundations down the middle of the park, and it was Taylor Eastwood who rounded off his hat-trick with another smart scoot. Canvass got the conversion to make it 24 – 28 in favour of Sirius. With only two minutes remaining a penalty was awarded to Sirius just to the side of the posts, the call of “take the 2” was shouted out by coaches and players. The conversion was successful to make it 24 – 30. Sirius controlled the remainder of the game with a safety set of six before the final whistle was blown and they boys celebrated their victory.
Please congratulate the squad for their fantastic character, attitude and behaviour that will now see them go into the quarter final of the Yorkshire Plate:-
Harry Coulbeck, Joe Kennedy, Matty Coulter, Taylor Eastwood, Tom Boreman, Brandon Sargesson, Ben Canvass, Joe Aitcheson, Jackson Davis Barker, Joe Burazin, Jack Bone, Leon Stewart, Jack Wilson Grey, Tyrone Wilsher, Joe Layden and Steve Willits.
Special thanks to Chris Rodgers for his support with the team.
