Skipton 21 Yarnbury 27

Skipton were made rue their dreadful start to a match that finally went ahead at the third attempt.

Yarnbury, currently eighth in the league, set off at a speed Skipton could not live with.

In just eight minutes they were in front by 15 points, having scored two tries, one conversion and a penalty.

With the first play centre Jason Avison burst through the outside backs and scored easily under the posts with Carl Paterson converting.

This was closely followed by prop Richard Lister diving over following good forward pressure in the Skipton 22.

With stand-off Paterson running the game with hand and boot and slotting a penalty Yarnbury looked set to be out of sight by half-time.

With Yarnbury in full control Skipton were in danger of falling apart as they were being run ragged by the Horsforth side.

Skipton’s problems were compounded when their experienced second row Malcolm Willsher was injured.

Although The Reds were unable to score in the first half they did manage to keep Yarnbury down to one more try when centre Lee Mortimer got over in the corner to extend the lead to 20 points at the break.

Skipton woke up for the second half and their pack started to control the game.

Twelve minutes into the half No.8 Patrick Murray took the ball and forced his way over the try line with Jonathan Richards converting.

Yarnbury added a converted try next to make it 27-7. Full back Andy Greaves used winger Chris Flowers as a foil to cut inside and score near the posts.

Yarnbury were becoming too confident and paid for it. They broke out from their own 22 but Richards intercepted the ball to score under the posts, his kick was again successful.

The longer the game went on the better Skipton became and from the halfway line Skipton’s backs fed the ball to winger George Smithson who cut through the Yarnbury defence to score wide out.

Richards landed the conversion to bring the deficit down to six points to secure a losing bonus point.

Yarnbury went away with the win but Skipton gave them a fright after their shocking start.

Apart from the first eight minutes, this was a decent performance at home by Skipton.

The whole team showed the commitment with several players outstanding. In the backs, Smithson, Jonny Moore and David Wilkinson, stood out while the pick of the forwards were Chris Lambert, Paul Shearer, Shaun Barraclough, Ben Hall and Patrick Murray.

Sadly the injuries continue to mount up. Last week Russell Ingham finished the game with a fractured jaw and broken finger, on this occasion Willsher retired in the first half with ankle ligament problems.