Baildon 40 Pirates 36
The Pirates made the trip to Baildon with a bare 15 following the late withdrawal of Nathan McKinley due to illness and the loss of Tom Langham to the 1st team. The Pirates started well and from a penalty in Baildon’s 22, Nathan Wake put the defence on the back foot with a quickly taken penalty, and despite been stopped close to the line, the ball was quickly recycled allowing Eddy Wilkinson to crash over from short range. 0-5 10 mins. However a strong 10 minutes from Baildon saw them run in 3 unanswered tries to lead 21-5 on 20 mins. The Pirates tightened their game up help by a solid scrum and strong running in the centres from Rhys Cory and Ryan Bradshaw, however a move broke down in the Baildon 22 and their pacey winger picked up and ran the distance to score under the posts 28-5 30 mins. From a lineout on the Pirates 22, Cory made a break to the Baildon 22 and was awarded a penalty, Josh Smith forced his way over from the lineout to make the half time score Baildon 28 Pirates 10.
The Pirates lost Dan Sidwell at half time and Baildon kindly us some players to keep the game at even numbers. A charge by Wake the Sam Fulton led to early Pirates pressure and a series of penalties carried forward by Wake and Rusty saw Marc Ford pick up and drive over from close range. Irish added the conversion to bring the score back to 28-17 after 50 mins. As the Pirates were comfortably building phases, a stray Baildon boot kicked the ball from a Pirates ruck and the ball was hacked over the Pirates line for another Baildon score. 33-17 55 mins. The Pirates then enjoyed a dominant period behind a solid scrum and lineout and Cory made a lovely break with his scoring offload just failing to find Nathan Kemeny under the posts. However the relentless pressure finally told when Wake barrelled over from close range. 33-22 62 mins. From a penalty Irish took a quick tap and Sam Fulton burst through the centres for a try under the posts, converted by Wake. 33-29 70 mins. From a lineout the Baildon 2nd row made a break and found a supporting player with a wonder offload to put him under the posts. 40-29 75 mins. The Pirates went straight down the other end, and a strong run by Will Cudworth saw Wake produce the hand off of the season to go in under the posts. Guest player Toby added the conversion to make the final score Baildon 40 Pirates 36.
This was an excellent game of open rugby played in excellent spirits. Thanks again to Baildon for the loan of players.
