New Earswick All Blacks rally to the cause (From York Press)

New Earswick All Blacks rally to the cause

10:21am Tuesday 24th January 2012 in Rugby League

DEPLETED New Earswick All Blacks ARLC were hit a double blow in the Pennine League.

The White Rose Avenue club suffered a rush of late withdrawals for their first team and ‘A’ fixtures at the weekend.

An emergency coaches’ meeting determined that both fixtures should go ahead, with several first-teamers turning out for the second string.

That meant the firsts travelled to Bradford side Birkinshaw with no substitutes and they exited the Pennine President’s Cup after a 56-4 round two defeat.

An 11-man ‘A’ team, meanwhile, lost 22-4 at Silsden in division four of the Pennine League after a spirited display.

The firsts trailed 22-0 at half-time having played the opening period with a strong wind at their backs.

After the break, All Blacks forward Johnny Clark crossed for a try, only for it to be dissallowed with the referee deciding he did not have full control when he grounded the ball.

The All Blacks tried hard to create openings, with hooker Jack Carling leading the way, but they were unable to puncture Birkinshaw’s solid defence.

Eventually full-back Max Bracken broke through and supplied a good final pass for centre Dave Finley to score an unconverted try in the corner in the last play of the match.

Prop Alan Davison worked hard, as did loose forward Chris Spain, while half-backs Joe Davies and Tom Holmes never gave up.

Carling’s graft earned him the All Blacks’ man of the match award, voted for by the Birkinshaw players.

Coach Simon Baynes praised the players who “pulled on the shirt to play and those who played for the ‘A’ team to ensure that fixture went ahead”.

Meanwhile, the 11 men of New Earswick ‘A’ proved difficult for Silsden to break down and the hosts were restricted to two tries and a conversion in the first half.

Trailing 10-0, the All Blacks hit back when Dan Fairclough celebrated his return to the club by taking an interception and racing 60 yards against the wind.

He was tackled short of the line, but a quick play the ball saw Dave Smith picking up at acting half to score under the posts. Fairclough’s conversion attempt hit the crossbar.

In the second half, the All Blacks worked hard and had their chances but failed to score any further tries.

Forward Wayne Foster, who had a strong game, was sin-binned for dissent with ten minutes remaining and Silsden added three unconverted tries.

Matthew Cole, Sam Waite and Ady Robinson were superb for New Earswick, while loose forward Darryl Fogg was the man of the match.