The Rams progressed to the semi finals of Division 2 North on Sunday in a hard fought game with the Staffordshire Surge. The game was a battle of defences but Ram’s Justin Lester broke the deadlock with the only touchdown of the game in the first quarter to help Yorkshire in their quest to reach the final at Don Valley Stadium on the 1st September.
The Rams started the game on a bad note when they fumbled the ball on the opening kick off deep in their own half, but good defensive work held the Surge who attempted a field goal but the ball went wide left. The Rams took over the ball but after gaining some good yardage through Jay Alexander were forced to punt, getting to the Surge 16 yard line but Staffordshire were once more held by a solid Rams ‘D’. Yorkshire went in front as the end of the first quarter approached. Rich Handby took the hand off and rumbled to the visitor’s 29 yard line from where Justin Lester went on his scoring run breaking numerous tackles, getting help with some superb blocking by his team mates. Simon Dewdney made the score 7 - 0 when his kick sailed between the sticks for the extra point.
The start of the second quarter saw both defences once more taking the field as neither side could gain the advantage. Yorkshire were pushed back towards their endzone with some good work by Staffordshire but Dewdney got the home side out of trouble when he ran up the middle and out of the danger zone. The Rams then moved the ball well and advanced steadily up the field, Paul Calvert being awarded the offensive MVP for his sterling efforts, but the Surge defence pulled themselves together and halted the attack as the Rams were moving in for the score. On fourth down Yorkshire went for a rare field goal attempt but Dewdney was successful from thirty yards and the score went to 10 - 0. The Ram’s defence kept the Surge at bay, Rupert Bolingbroke receiving the defensive MVP for an excellent game, for the remainder of the half but had to punt themselves as the half came to a close.
Five minutes into the final period and the Surge very nearly pulled points back when a pass from Richard Large was batted away by Stuart Jones just outside the endzone to let the Rams breathe easy again. Yorkshire took over the ball and once more advanced against the Surge defence, but successive penalties pushed them back and they were forced to punt the ball away. The final five minutes of the game saw the Surge piling on the pressure in a valiant attempt to snatch the victory from Yorkshire. A pass from Large to Jack Garnsey, who was awarded the Surge MVP for a great game, got the visitors to the Ram’s 35 yard line. Another pass to Garnsey on third down moved the ball to the 21 yard marker to keep the drive going and deep inside the two minute warning Staffordshire got to Yorkshire’s ten yard. But the Ram’s defence dug their heels in and turned back the attack gaining the ball back and seeing the clock out to get the win.
The Rams now face the Nottingham Caesars in the semi-final on Sunday in what will be another hard battle. Both teams have a notch on their belt from their regular season games so this match up should produce a good semi-final which could go either way.
Kick off time is 2:30 pm at the Westgate Redoubt ARLFC, Broadway, Lupset, Wakefield.