Sat 31 Aug 2024
A promising first run out of the season ultimately ended in defeat as Globe Holidays sponsored Stocksbridge Rugby crashed out of the Yorkshire Vase Trophy at the hand of West Yorkshire rivals, Knottingley. A final score of Knottinbgley 34pts – Stocksbridge Rugby nil pts, is not a true reflection of the game & the efforts of the visiting players. The home side opened the scoring on just 3 minutes, with a simple penalty & Stocksbridge were dealt a further blow when youngster Jacob Crosby was shown a straight red card for a no arms tackle. A try for the home side, was followed by another penalty to leave the half tine score : Knottingley RUFC 13pts – Stocksbridge Rugby nil points.
The home side ran in 3 further second half tries to seal the victory, despite a red card for one of their own players for a high tackle. The visitors also lost influential scrum half, that man Adam Frith to a poor tackle from the hosts.
Man of the match & Club Skipper for the season Andy ‘clock tower’ Beal said afterwards, ‘the boys defended with courage, after going a man down, & that effort eventually caught up with us’, before adding, ‘there are plenty of positives for us to take into the league campaign, & we are looking forward to it’. Ironically Stocksbridge travel to Knottingley again this weekend, for Round 1 of the Yorkshire League Div 4 & will be hoping to improve on their last visit.
Written by Andrew Tyers
