Stocksbridge 17 Skipton 18

TWO second-half tries from flanker Luke Daniel secured Yorkshire Three victory for Skipton by the narrowest of margins.

Skipton fielded three sets of brothers, Luke and Jon Currie, Sam and Ben Brearley and Rick and John Willsher, while Will Huggins and George Dale came in to the pack.

Skipton kicked-off up the slope but, as the weather worsened, the game descended into stalemate with neither side being able to make a breakthrough.

Chip throughs by both stand-off Ben Brearley and centre Jon Currie were the best aspects of Skipton's early play but neither resulted in points.

The visitors then suffered a setback when prop Luke Currie received a yellow card for an infringement at the ruck.

A better period of forward play took Skipton to the home side's line but a misunderstanding on the wing lost them possession.

The home side then capitalised on Skipton being one man down and after a sustained period of forward pressure ran in their first converted try.

Skipton Coach Craig Bartlett then brought Harry McEneaney and George Dale into the Skipton pack and the visitors clawed back three points from a Matty Langstaff penalty just before the break.

A penalty to Skipton early in the second period for incorrect binding in the front row by Stocksbridge went wide of the posts, but Langstaff made sure with a further penalty a minute later for an infringement on the ground by Stocksbridge.

Stocksbridge then stretched the lead to 10-6 with a penalty of their own for Skipton straying off-side.

Coach Craig Bartlett then made further changes by sending on forward Will Huggins and scrum-half Sam Brearley. The weather worsened and although the ball became very greasy and difficult to handle, handling errors and dropped passes interrupted the flow of Skipton's play.

A slipped tackle by Stocksbridge put them over for their second converted try. Skipton replied with an excellent period of pressure.

A multi-phase move took Skipton to the home side's line. Stocksbridge then received a yellow card for persistent infringements at the breakdown.

The kick was put into the corner and a further penalty to Skipton resulted from the line-out. Daniel took a quick tap and crashed over for Skipton's first try with Langstaff adding the extra points.

Skipton were straight back down field from the re-start and from another tap penalty Daniel was held up on the line.

Although Stocksbridge won the five-metre scrum, the ball was dropped behind the line by their backs and Daniel pounced to secure Skipton's second try. The conversion was missed but the game had been won 18-17