Sirius Year 10s brave in Yorkshire Cup Final loss!
The Sirius Academy Year 10 Rugby team battled bravely against the National Cup Champions, Outwood Grange (Wakefield) in a close Yorkshire Cup Final played at Castleford. The boys were well in the game going into the last 15 minutes but some poor options and discipline saw the game slip away from the team, however they can be proud of their efforts in reaching their 1st ever Yorkshire Final. The boys will no doubt be stronger for the experience, and now look forward to their 1st Round National Cup game against the runners-up in the Cumbrian Cup Final.
The team was dealt a blow on the eve of the Final with Harry Tyson-Wilson receiving and facial injury in training that ruled him out of the game, however it gave other players the opportunity to stand up and lead from the front. A tough 10 minutes saw Sirius concede two early tries to fall 12-0 behind, despite big efforts in the middle of the pitch from Liam Platten and Kai Overton. With many people expecting Sirius to fall apart and concede more points, the boys battled bravely with Benn Arbon defending strongly, and excellent Liam Harris taking the game forward and causing problems for the defence. Sirius worked their selves back into good field position with the impressive Brandon Hepworth and Calvin Parker carrying the ball hard and straight, this gave Harris the space to put in a kick that caused havoc and Harris was on hand to follow up and collect to score under the sticks and convert his own score for 12-6 at half-time.
The 2nd half started with Sirius pressing strongly to level the game, with Outwood on the back foot. With Kieran Jones taking on the line, and finding willing runners in the excellent Jamie Warcup and Peter Butcher, Sirius were on top. However disaster struck for the boys when a loose pass was snapped up by the Outwood centre who sprinted the length of the pitch to put them 18-6 up. Again Sirius showed great spirit to battle their way back, refusing to give in, with the outstanding Year 9, Connor Giddings dealing with tricky kicks and returning the ball, and Liam Sigurddson and Josh Jackson making yards at will. A good spot from Arbon created space for the hard-working George Scottow to crash over to leave Sirius 18-10 down with fifteen minutes remaining. However Sirius quickly began to tire, and consistent penalties gave Outwood great field position to attack, and with Sirius defending a lot, they conceded two late tries to move the score out to 26-10.
Please congratulate the following players on their outstanding efforts in reaching the Final, and the success they have had:
Liam Sigurdsson, Brandon Hepworth, Josh Jackson, Connor Giddings (Year 9), Kieran Jones, Liam Harris, Liam Platten, Benn Arbon, Kai Overton, Tom Hance, George Scottow, Calvin Parker, Jamie Warcup, Jon Godwin, Louis Carmichael, Jack Walton, Jordan Borman, Rohid Zamani, Harry Tyson-Wilson and Ben Ramsay.
Also please congratulate Year 11 students Jansin Turgut and Josh Wood who travelled in support of the team, and helped in terms of equipment and running water on to the team, this was much appreciated.
Special thanks to Jon Flatman for supporting the boys and Rachel Gay for her assistance in coaching, organisation and support with the team.
