EDF Junior Vase - Round 3

Whitby Maroons 15
Baildon 10

The Maroons had a break from league action to play in the national cup last Saturday. The Maroons were the only team in there respective league to be drawn at home and the only team to go through to the 4th round as all the rest were convincingly knocked out. Baildon who are not having the best of seasons so far started brighter in the opening 20 minutes. The away side used their half backs to jink around and cause problems as one or two tackles were missed, but Parkin and Quinn got to grips with this and put in some massive hits to help Whitby control the game.

Steve Allen on form with his kicking so far this year, missed an easy penalty in front of the posts but made up for it a little later with a massive kick in very windy conditions to open the scoring. Whitbys dominance in the scrum just before half time lifted the home sides confidence as Purvis and Gildroy combined well together. Matt Russell was binned for slowing the game down but the scrum won many scrums against the head as the Baildon pack crumbled.

With the game being so close the Maroons had the elements against them and not a big score to defend for the second half. So the first score was going to be vital. The home side were reduced to 14men as Phill Stentiford was harshly sent to the sin bin. But inspirational Mick Latus led the way replacing Allgood to cover the positional sin binning. The 10 minutes of magic that Latus produced getting the pack going forwards, the Home side scored 12 points. Firstly, Latus and Russell combined well with Lonsdale providing back up but it was other prop Shane Young who popped over from short range as Watson went close. Left footed Ollie Roberts hit the conversion over.

The second try was a moment of perfection for Ollie Roberts as the Fullbacks run and kick through opened up the visitors defence for flanker Mark Parkin to race through and score out wide.Latus was then substituted for Richardson for a facial injury for the remaining 15minutes. Baildon hit back through their speedy fullback and the same player added the conversion and a long range penalty to set up a tense finish. Again the Maroons were reduced to 14 men for the remained of the match as Matt Russell again was yellow carded but a red card never followed to the surprise of the crowd.

Despite penalty after penalty and the pressure Baildon caused the Whitby side held on to progress to the next round for the first time in 8 years. Every single player contributed 100% of effort and the team showed excellent character to play a hard match with only 14 men for 50minutes. Lonsdale had a quailty game as Purvis and Gildroy provided the power. Mick Latus, Straker and Russell changed the game.

Whitby Gazette Man of the Match - James Gildroy - Power House.
Match Sponsor - Whitby Tanks.