Ionians leave it late at Old Brods

Hull Ionians Under 15s v Old Brodleians.
Sunday 6 April 2008
Old Brodleians 15 Hull Ionians 17

Ionians travelled to West Yorkshire for their first game in 3 weeks since their Yorkshire Cup semi Final success. Ionians, who were without No 10 Simon Hammersley and back row Danny Casson, rearranged and still ran out with a formidable line up. Old Brods who have proven themselves to be a well drilled and talented side were far from overawed. The home side demonstrated a determination to win and their commitment and ferocity gave a rude awakening to some of the Ionians players who have developed casual and over confident attitudes of late.
Despite the aggressive start by Brods, Ionian’s front 5 dominated throughout. In the scrums, particularly they provided a solid platform in attack and hooker Dom Carty won a number against the head.

Ionians who had started playing up the hill and against the wind, failed to capitalise on their possession and after about 5 minutes Old Brods picked up untidy line out ball and the collecting home player raced over the line from about 25 yards. The conversion drifted wide and Ionians regrouped 5 nil down.
Despite the elements, Ionians pushed back up field and had a number of opportunities to breach the defence. The Brods back line, supported by their back row repelled a number of charges forward by the Ionians attack. During this sustained period of pressure, a charged down kick touched down over the line was disallowed and No 8 Hodges reached the line from the base of the scrum but was deemed to have been held up. A move from the resulting scrum was fumbled and Brods kicked out of danger.














































Brods who had already carried one penalty into the Ionians brick wall opted for the kick when awarded another inside the Ionian’s half with only a few minutes of the first period remaining. A long and accurate kick saw them go into the break with an 8 point lead.
I’s started the 2nd half determined to take advantage of the slope and the wind and continued to dominate in the forwards. The attacking back line were held back several times before creating an overlap along the right and with speed men Heylings and Bainbridge outside him, Full back Henry Waine inadvertently placed a perfect pass into the hands of a defending centre who raced the length of the pitch to score under the posts. The easy kick then gave a 15 point lead with about 20 minutes to go.
As the noise of the home supporters reflected the excitement of having victory insight, Ionians counted to ten before going straight back down the hill and powering over the line 3 times. The first try came from a series of forward drives finished off by Joe Rennard, the second being scored by Man of the Match Josh Thundercliffe in a similar fashion.
Both tries were unconverted and still trailing by 5 points, Ionians made series of breaks down both wings to no avail.



















Ionians in traditional fashion made several changes ensuring the whole squad played and despite 3 of the front 5 being replaced continued to dominate.
With 7 minutes to go, centre Will Heylings, whose attempt to score from half way had been disallowed after his foot brushed the touchline, picked up the ball from the base of a ruck and forced his way through a gap to touch down and draw the game level. Stand in kicker Torkington converted and for the first time Ionians were in front. Brods refused to give in and fought hard for the remaining period but failed to breach the strong Ionians defence.