Sat 12 Oct 2019, 15:00
Hegians winning streak finally came to an end on Saturday as the last remaining unbeaten side in Yorkshire 2 lost out at the hands of second placed Rishworthians.
Hegians started the game very well, after just 5 minutes a penalty was awarded to Hegians and some good quick thinking by Coe to take a quick tap penalty and caught the Rish defence napping, the ball went out wide left through good hands and allowed Bennett to score in the corner. Up stepped Dobson who had a tricky attempt from the touchline especially after he had been wayward in the warm up but the strike was sweet as a nut and the ball sailed over the crossbar to make the score 7-0.
Just 3 minutes later Hegians were in again, a scrum was given to Hegians for a knock on on halfway and was won convincingly. Some nice hands out wide right left Miyambo with a fair bit to do but he managed to touch down in the corner as well leaving Dobson with an even tougher kick on his weaker side but this one got slotted too and Hegians went 14-0 up and looked like they might have an easy afternoon out.
One downside for Hegians on Saturday was poor discipline and it started on 15 minutes when a simple penalty for offside was conceded. Rish wisely opted to put the ball right in the corner and after a few phases following the lineout they managed to exploit a gap in the Hegians line to score a good try, an easy conversion for Rish brought the game back to 14-7.
Hegians managed to extend their lead on the 28 minute mark when Hegians were awarded a cheap penalty for chat back from a Rish player who earned himself 10 minutes in the sin bin and gifted Hegians a very kickable penalty central on the pitch. Dobson made no mistake with his third kick off the first half to take Hegians out to a 17-7 lead.
Just 6 minutes later Hegians managed to switch off completely, an attempted clearing kick from Thorpe was charged down and as the Hegians defence tried to scramble back they gifted another penalty away coming from an offside position. This time Rish opted for the kicking tee and made the score 17-10 with an easy penalty.
Just as it looked like Hegians were going to take a lead into halftime for the 6th successive game this season Cowling was penalised for a high tackle after being beat in the air at a lineout. The referee opted to go to the cards for a third penalty by Cowling in the space of 5 minutes, Rish took full advantage of the extra man and played well through the hands to score a try again doing well to find a hole in the Hegians defensive line. A simple conversion brought a halftime score of 17-17 that was reflective of the first half.
Just 2 minutes after halftime Rish were in again as it was Dobson's turn to be charged down this time, once again Hegians just couldn't defend the line well with one man less and Rish moved out to 17-24.
Following the try the game started to become more and more stop start which didn't really suit either side with both sets of expansive backs on display. Not for the first time this season, Hegians struggled for possession up to the hour mark and Rish made the pressure tell adding another good try to make the score 17-31.
Rish looked to have killed the game off with 10 to go after a forward pass from Miyambo to Robinson as the tryline was gaping gifted Rish a scrum. This scrum soon turned into a penalty 20m closer to the Hegians line after chat back to the referee and put Rish into a kickable area to take a 17 point lead.
Hegians lifted their game from that point and began a late fightback, with 7 minutes to go Dobson bulked his way over from inside the 22 for a trademark third try of the season, converting his own kick Hegians were back within 10 at a 24-34 scoreline.
In the final play Hegians were awarded a penalty and Dobson decided to go for three points to bring Hegians back into a losing bonus point position, he kicked well again and picked up a bonus point that may be crucial later in the season 27-34.
This was a good game at the Memorial Ground between two good teams, the standard of rugby was excellent and Rish fully deserved the 5 points. Hegians will look to try and get back to winning ways next week with a tough trip to Ripon.
Hegians man of the match went to CFS sponsored James Dobson who managed 17 of Hagians 27 points.
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