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Bradford & Bingley 13 Hull Ionians 28 - National 2 North Photos
Hull Ionians
forwards once again provided the platform to drive the way to victory and send
Hull Ionians climbing 3 places up the league table. Winning at Bradford was
never going to be easy as they defended their unbeaten home record but power and
patience with the ball combined with solid defence when they didn’t ensured
there was only going to be one result. Mick Watson was delighted with his teams
improved form and is looking forward to further improvements to come as the new
back line gains more confidence in each other’s skills. Experienced half backs
Joe Bartlett and James Ferguson both controlled the game well behind the strong
pack and as their understanding develops will cut many teams apart. Lock forward
Rich Hill was putting in a superb work rate taking many high balls under
pressure from the lines-out and restarts while behind him the back row of Rich
and Mark Wigham were covering every blade of grass with Danny Hague’s ball
carrying earning him man of the match this week.
Hull Ionians opened their account in the 13th minute when Danny Smith
found space to break from deep then chipped over the cover for James Greene to
chip on again and dive in to score, celebrating his 100th 1st
XV appearance for the club. James Ferguson added the difficult conversion having
missed a couple of earlier penalties. Hull Ionians continued to play good rugby
but a swarming Bees defence living on the offside line was proving a hard line
to break. Bees gained a good position from a well placed kick and when Hull
Ionians carelessly lost their own line-out quick ball saw centre Stuart Dixon
crash through the middle for a free run to the posts, Tom Davidson converting
then adding a penalty to take the lead against the run of play. Powerful running
from Tim Nixon saw him crushed in a tackle and limping off the pitch bringing
Iain Gordon on as fullback, marking his arrival with a well struck penalty to
level the scores, but a second penalty for Bees by Tom Davidson gave them a
13-10 lead at the break.
The second half saw Hull Ionians forwards take control of the match and soon
level the scores, Iain Gordon striking a 40 metre penalty after the Bees killed
the ball in the tackle. A desperate clearance by the Bees saw Oli Marns running
back to the 22 before being held and quick ball saw James Ferguson send Danny
Hague crashing through to score under the posts, Iain Gordon converting. Further
pressure was somehow held out with the line under siege but Iain Gordon kicked a
penalty for offside to take Hull Ionians two scores clear and the result beyond
doubt. Sustained play in their own 22 saw the Bees knock-on over their own goal
line and the drive from the resulting 5 metre scrum saw Mark Wigham dive on the
ball to claim the try to complete the day’s scoring.