Skipton 78 Hessle 0

SKIPTON'S climb up the Yorkshire Four table continued with an emphatic12-try victory over Humberside rivals Hessle.

This was the third encounter between the sides this season with Skipton having previously suffered away defeats in both the league and the Yorkshire Silver Trophy.

After some hard opening exchanges between the forwards, Skipton sent the ball quickly down the back line to centre Gavin Ackers-Johnson.

He was brought down five yards out but the ball was swiftly gathered at the breakdown to put back row Jordan Wilson over for Skipton's opening points.

Ackers-Johnson was straight back into the action two minutes later when stand off Liam Jordan put him away for Skipton's second try.

Full back Matty Langstaff added the extra points. An explosive run from winger Josh Smith following a nicely placed pass from Jordan put him over for Skipton's third try. Langstaff again added the extra points and Skipton were 19-0 up after just 15 minutes.

A good return kick from Langstaff put Skipton back down field from a Hessle penalty and co-ordinated forward work drove the visitors towards their own line.

Scrum-half Jonathan Kulik broke from the base of the scrum and put Ackers-Johnson over for Skipton's fourth try which secured the bonus point.

From the re-start an inside pass from Kulik put second row Harry McEneaney in the clear. He had a 50-metre run to the line and, with the crowd cheering him on, broke two tackles before going in under the posts for the home side's fifth try.

There was a sustained period of possession by Hessle before half-time with many phases of play but Skipton defended well to keep their line intact.

Just before the interval a superb break by Langstaff put Smith away but the last pass was adjudged to have been forward and the sides turned round with Skipton leading 33-0.

From an early scrum in the second half a sweet pass from Jordan put Ackers-Johnson in under the posts as Skipton continued to rack up the points.

The next scrum was taken against the head by the home side skipper Chris Sheehan and Jack McLeod, now at scrum-half, broke from the base of the scrum for a 50-metre run to the line for Skipton's seventh try.

Skipton now had the bit between their teeth and great inter-passing between forwards and backs, with the last pass from skipper Sheehan putting Smith over again in the corner. Luke Stockton stepped up to the plate to add the extra points.

There was a repeat performance from McLeod. He picked up from the base of the scrum to go over between the posts for Skipton's ninth try. McLeod added the extra points himself.

The Skipton forwards won good line-out ball from a Hessle throw in and the ball was moved quickly down the back line to put Smith in for a try.

A good take from the re-start by Skipton prop Chris Wright and a return by utility forward Will Huggins led to inter-passing between Wright and centre Jon Currie which put No 8 Ben Hall over for try number 11. McLeod again added the extra points.

In the last few minutes of the game a well-placed pass from Ackers-Johnson put replacement winger Josh Berrey over for Skipton's final try with McLeod adding the extra points on the stroke of full-time.

This was an excellent focussed team effort by Skipton who have started the new year impressively.