Skipton 9 Stocksbridge 8

SKIPTON secured victory by the narrowest of margins over South Yorkshire rivals Stocksbridge to stabilise their position in the bottom half of Yorkshire Division Three.

The visitors gained two penalties in the opening minutes of the game and converted the second for an early lead.

Skipton gained two penalties in the visitors' half but inaccurate kicking put the ball over the dead ball line and gave the visitors a respite with 22-metre restarts.

Skipton were back down field from a long-range kick through by stand-off Adam Oldfield but a knock-on ended play.

The Skipton pack then took two scrums against the head, putting number eight Harry McEneaney through and giving winger Jamie Carroll an excellent run, but both moves failed to secure further points.

Stocksbridge intercepted a loose pass but Kiwi Lee Neha, starting at full-back, made no mistake in the tackle and brought the man down.

When Skipton gained a penalty, Neha shipped the ball to Carroll who chipped through but was just short of touching down.

From the 22 restart the visitors received a yellow card for a deliberate offside at the ruck and scrum-half Alex Baldwin converted the resultant penalty for Skipton to level the scores.

In the next phase of play a Stocksbridge player received a red card for punching at the break down, under their own posts.

Baldwin slotted the penalty over and Skipton had taken the lead.

Skipton gained a penalty for Stocksbridge being offside but an excellent cross field move was ended by a knock-on and a try went begging.

A rolling maul from the line-out saw McEneaney held up twice, after a tremendous forward effort.

The first move of the second half saw Skipton's outside centre Hamish Munro link with Neha to feed winger Jack McLeod. McLeod was over but was adjudged to have been held up, to the utter frustration of the sizeable home crowd.

Skipton gained a penalty in the next phase of play for the visitors going over the top, which Baldwin converted to establish a 9-3 lead.

The visitors displayed some determined, open, flowing rugby from the re-start and were rewarded with a try in the corner. The try was not converted, to the relief of the Skipton followers.

As the tension mounted, Skipton prop Luke Currie received a yellow card for killing the ball.

An unbearable last five minutes followed with Ryan Binner, Ryan Chafer and Charlie Brown manning up for Skipton in the front row.

A late penalty to Skipton for Stocksbridge collapsing the scrum was put into touch to conclude the game, to the unconcealed delight and relief of their supporters.