FIRST TEAM
SCUNTHORPE 42 – ILKLEY 7
After a week off the Greens started well but then lost some impetus, however they were patient and in the last 30 minutes ran in five tries.
The home crowd welcomed Tom Stephens and Elliot Saltmarsh for their debuts There was also the return to the bench for Dylan Martin. With Ethan Taylor unavailable the other Ethan – Heath-Drury stepped up to the 10 spot.
The utility back was called into action almost immediately when Scunthorpe were awarded a penalty in the first minute. The fledgling fly half put the penalty kick right into opposition territory. From the line out the old faithful catch and drive came off like clockwork with Nick Dyson claiming the touchdown. Heath-Drury missed the conversion and then for some reason the home side went off the boil, allowing Ilkley to have far too much of the ball. Things got worse after 14 minutes when Marcus Payne was given a yellow card for a technical offence. After twenty minutes Ilkley were able to go into the lead through a well taken try by wingman Willem Johnson, Charles Morgan adding the extra two points to lead 5-7. To add insult to injury a second yellow card was given to Josh Lugsden and the Greens were now down to 13 men and looking very disheveled. Fortunately, they were back to 14 men after only a minute and needed a shot in the arm to get them going. They began to get it together with some longer passages of possession and searching penalty kicks to touch. Ben Hyde typified the never say die spirit of this team with a barn storming run brushing off tacklers at will. Then from another penalty kick deep into the Ilkley 22 the ball was recycled, and the influential centre Laurence Pearce bullied his way through to score a much-needed try. Heath-Drury converted and then just on half time the fly-half slotted over a penalty and at half time it was 15-7 with some signs of a resurgence.
Ilkley knew they were still in this game and came back at Scunthorpe from the kickoff. Some resolute defence along with the odd penalty allowed them to weather the storm and ten minutes in 2nd row stalwart Nick Dyson claimed his brace of tries with his trademark pick and go from the breakdown. Heath-Drury converted, and the Greens were now cooking on gas. Ilkley were getting the wrong side of the referee and Scunthorpe’s superior strength in the scrum and overall fitness saw them take a strangle hold on this game with some exciting tries coming thick and fast. The first of these came from Tom Stephens after a deft cross field chip from Josh Lugsden. The Greens were battering the Yorkshire side’s line, the ball came out to Lugsden who saw the gap on the right and put in a perfect kick for Stephens to collect and score. On 68 minutes one could argue we saw the try of the season so far. It was the architect Laurence Pearce again who executed an exquisite pass to put his co-centre Will Robinson into a gap which he exploited by racing 50 metres. Lewis Talbot had enough gas to keep up and gratefully accepted the off-load to score his first try of the season. Ilkley had been tough opponents for an hour but now they wavered and with the score now 32-7 the home side went for the kill with some exhilarating rugby running from all parts of the pitch.
Further tries from James Dyson and Laurence Pearce sealed a well-earned victory at 42-7. Seven tries were testament to the style of rugby the coaches are developing and had the conversions gone our way it could have been another fifty point game. However, the most satisfying aspect of this game was the attitude of the players, even though they were not playing well they stuck together and were patient. The team has a much stronger bench with the likes of Will Harrison, Dylan Martin and promising back row Elliot Saltmarsh all making their mark. These factors auger well for a very good season as Scunthorpe sit at the top of Regional NE 1 league table with an unbeaten record of 5 wins on the bounce. Next week sees the lads travel to Percy Park in North Shields for their first ever encounter. This will be a tough game as now The Greens are the team everyone wants to beat!
Thanks to Chris Holland from J.C.Holland (Northern Limited) for their match sponsorship. Referees expenses were covered by Red Recruitment 247.
Player of the Match – Ben Hyde
Match report written by Steve Williams, Photos below credited to Paul McDonald
WOMEN’S TEAM
ASHFIELD 22 – SCUNTHORPE 47
Scunthorpe Women’s team travelled to Ashfield to play their third league fixture of the season . The game started very much in Ashfields favour and their practised forward carry worked well for them around the fringes. It was the home team that scored first very early on. We had to settle down very quickly if we wanted to play our brand of rugby.
The game was hectic and really disorganised in places which made the game very much a like a see saw scenario . Scunthorpe worked hard to combat the forward carries and superb work by Holly N and the Moody sisters gave us more stability within the forwards.
Once the calm ensued we could release our danger players in the backs especially Ewa , Ella and Jorja this they had no answer for.
We have some work to do during the week but we will regroup and refocus for next week .The final score was 47-22 to Scunthorpe 
Ewa 
Ella
Holly N
Jorja
Louise B – 6 conversions
Back of the Match – Ewa Jasek
Forward of the Match – Holly Newman
Opposition Player – Dawn Moody.
Photos taken from Scunthorpe Women’s Instagram Stories & professional photo credit to Richard Black Photography
SECOND TEAM (Stags)
SCUNTHORPE 14 – ILKLEY 5
The stags hosted Ilkley 2nd XV at Heslam park which they knew was going to be a tough day at the office. The weather soon changed from miserable to a lovely sunny afternoon, which was sure to benefit Ilkleys wide men.
The stags managed to dominate possession for the first 20 minutes of the game, a big hold up tackle from Alf Oldridge allowed Dawson to rip the ball off the Ilkley scrum half and dot down in the corner converting his own try 7-0.
Ilkley came reacted well with big carries however the stags maintained their composure and stuck to their gameplan. A big defensive effort from Ilkley saw the ball turned over in their 22 allowing them to exit however Coel Gosling on the receiving end of the kick took the ball in his stride and cut through the Ilkley charging line and linkedup with Hardy and then Lovell out wide to create a simple dive over for Alf Oldridge for his First try of the game. Score converted by Dawson 14-0. Soon after half time came.
The second half saw a lot of stop start rugby but a massive defensive push from the stags saw the score stay at 14-0 for the first 20 minutes. The stags mounted pressure in attack on the 5 metre line before an interception from Ilkleys 13 saw him fly the length of the pitch to score against the run of play. Conversion missed. 14-5, this score made the stags have to play some tight well drilled rugby for the remainder of the match, doing so in the opposition half also with Ilkley conceding a yellow card 10 minutes from the end.
The game finished 14-5 another win for the stags.
Match Report written by Billy Hardy
THIRD TEAM
DRIFFIELD 13 – SCUNTHORPE 6
We went to Driffield with 16 yesterday, always a tough ask against a team of strong runners. Every person on the pitch put their bodies on the line and I couldn’t be prouder. Throughout the first half we were the better side, making good runs though the middle putting pressure on the defence. Couple of penalties kicked and a went in at half time 6-0.
Second half kicked off and again we were the stronger side, Harry Soulby and Ricky Smart making busting strides though their defence, Jamie Corney and Finlay Storrs combining to go through the middle but just coming up short. Rick Robbo showed his incredible footballing skills dribbling the ball down the wing unfortunately being beaten to the ball at the last.
The last twenty minutes came and the weather turned, Driffield started to carry the ball well and got a few favourable decisions and got a couple of quick tries to put themselves 10-6 into the lead. We carried on battling, unfortunately just missing that final touch in the red zone to keep us from crossing the whitewash. Driffield finished the game with a penalty to end the game 13-6.
Well played by everyone out there yesterday, immensely proud of each and everyone of you.
Big hand to Ross Burnett and Callum Johnstone on making their Scunthorpe RUFC Patriots debut!
Man of the Match – Harry Soulby
Match Report written by Tom Fell
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
DRIFFIELD 61 – SCUNTHORPE 5
Match report pending