Skipton 29 York Railway Institute 10

SKIPTON added momentum to their push for a promotion place with a comfortable victory over third-placed York RI at Sandylands.

The tone for an afternoon of dominance by the home pack was set at the first scrum, which Skipton hooker Chris Sheehan took against the head.

Skipton’s first try came from centre Matty Langstaff after smooth interplay between the forwards and backs engineered by Luke Stockton, who was returning at full back after a five-week absence with a dislocated thumb.

The try was easily converted by stand-off Michael Mullins, who added a penalty soon after to stretch the advantage.

A superb last-ditch tackle by Stockton saved a certain try for York RI, before flanker Liam Jordan picked up a rib injury and had to leave the field.

The visitors capitalised on hand-ling errors by Skipton in their own 22 to score an unconverted try which reduced the lead to 10-5 at half-time.

From the restart, a fantastic carry by former county player Connor Carver gave Skipton a scrum ten yards out, from which Ben Hall scored a textbook No 8’s try.

Skipton had gained the ascendency in the scrum, twice pushing York RI off the ball and gaining a penalty.

A strong run by Carver put Langstaff through – only for him to be brought down off the ball, resulting in a yellow card for the visitors.

Skipton opted for a scrum from the penalty and only a knocked-down pass between Stockton and Donnelly prevented a further try.

York RI’s defence then held firm, despite heavy pressure from the Skipton forwards, but a turnover ball secured by Stuart Barraclough put Carver in for a try under the posts. Mullins added the extra points to increase Skipton’s lead to 22-5.

Loose tackling from a York RI penalty allowed the visitors a further try in the corner – but excellent forward work by Skipton gave Langstaff the side’s fourth try to secure the bonus point. Mullins converted on the stroke of full-time to give a final score of 29-10.

Skipton face a big match away to second-placed Halifax on Saturday.