29/05/2026
🔴🔵📋 Match Report 📋🔵🔴
The quarter finals of the YML Shield for Divisions 4 & 5 was the fixture and Thanet Road in York was the venue against York Acorns A team on Saturday gone. As expected with Acorns first team having no fixture it was a stronger A team than the one that faced the Bears in their first match of the season when a very strong Acorn A defeated the Bears 42-10 at Eversley Park in a pre-season friendly.
On a blisteringly hot afternoon Acorn came out of the traps at a 1000 mph looking to win the game in the opening stages, super fast and aggressive line speed saw Sherburn struggling to make meters out of their own half, whilst strong carries from across the park from a confident home team saw the first 15 minutes of the game played almost exclusively in the Bears half of the field. York capitalised on every bit of possession won in the Bears half, forcing repeat sets and errors to score some well worked tries out wide to build up a commanding 14-0 lead with 3 x tries under 20 minutes in. Sherburn though to their credit refused to buckle and continued to tackle their hearts out to keep Acorn out on numerous occasions with big defensive stints from Layton Orford, Dec Lewis, Dom Romans, Danny Gill, Kyle Dutson and Ste Hayes, otherwise the score could easily have been more during this period.
With encouragement from the dug out to keep slowing the play the ball as much as possible and keep completing sets and getting to a kick to turn the hosts around, Sherburn gradually started to turn the tide, excellent work from fullback Mikey Hayward carrying the ball repeatedly got the Bears on the front foot in possession, strong carries from Orford, Gill, Matty Burke, Keanu Beane, Dom Romans and the introduction of young ho**er Tom Best darting out of dummy half saw Sherburn start to see some ball in the homes teams 40 as the half wore on, forcing an error Sherburn capitalised with a well worked score from Orford from close range, Ste Hayes, Mr Reliable with the boot stepped up to make it 14-6 on the stroke of half time.
The score just before half time seemed to rattle the home side, whilst at the same time seeing the visitors grow in confidence, unlike previous weeks Sherburn stuck to the game plan completing sets and playing for territory whilst Acorn kept forcing the pass and coughing up errors that gifted the Bears possession in their half, Sherburn took their opportunities with first Hayward diving over, and then new recruit Henry Livsey scoring a lovely try after the Bears jammed Acorn into the opposite corner on their own goal line before beautifully spreading the ball to their left for a well executed team score, expertly finished off by Livsey who showed impressive speed balance and composure to round his opposite centre for the try. Both scores were duly converted by that man Hayes for the Bears to take the lead, deservedly for the first time at 14-18 with 70 minutes gone.
In true Sherburn style though, back to back penalties with some ‘over exuberant’ defending saw York on the Bears goal line for 2 x sets of 6, which was duly upped to 3 sets when the ref decided this was the time to give the games only 6 again for offside, the weight of possession finally told and York dived over out wide to level the score 18-18. The 3rd missed conversion from Acorn meant the scores were locked at 18 all with less than 10 mins to go in a game that would go to extra time if the match was still tied at full time. Sherburn though refused to let Yorks score change the momentum and a short kick off from Hayes saw the Bears gain possession in Acorns half, showing enormous patience and not forcing anything the Bears camped in the home teams half before slotting over a drop goal from yes, you guessed it, Ste Hayes to take an 18-19 lead with just minutes of the game left. Acorn immediately replied gathering their own short kick off from the restart and pressed on Sherburn’s 40 looking for a winning score, a wide ball though was gratefully intercepted from Hayes who raced away looking for all the world like this once thoroughbred race horse was going to relive his glory years and romp home, alas even he cant escape father time and was pulled down by a last ditch tackle from a rather more youthful Acorn player just yards short from the try line, quick thinking from winger Liam Brown however saw him dart out of dummy half following Hayes quick play the ball, to round the only Acorn defender and dive over to score. No conversion this time but it didn’t matter as the referee called this pulsating fixture to an end with a final score of 18-23 to the Bears.
Credit must go to both sides for a top quality game of amateur rugby league played to a standard well above division 4 or 5 in blisteringly hot conditions, the game really could have gone either way with both teams deserving of the win. It was an incredibly tough pick for the man of the match, a mammoth second half stint from Addy Mac saw him play the entire second half and come agonisingly close to a couple of scores in desert heat conditions, along with incredible contributions in attack and defence from Orford, Dutson, Lewis, Gill, Dom Romans and many more made this a memorable team performance, especially with a completion rate of over 70%, certainly the best the team has managed this season and more than likely a number of season before this one.
Never the less man of the matches must be awarded and 3rd place went to young Sherburn ho**er Tom Best, playing his first game for the club following his Lock Lane transfer, and what a debut it was, changing the speed of the ruck upwards for the visitors from the minute he took to the field, tenacious in defence and full of energy in attack he proved a constant thorn in Acorns side from the moment he was introduced into the fray 20 minutes into the game. Second place went to ho**er come loose forward Keanu Bean, another home grown player, he switched from ho**er to Loose with the introduction of Best and played his best rugby at 13, an absolute machine in the defensive line and a deceptively strong carrier of the ball constantly making extra meters on the attack, his contribution was vital in keeping the Bears bigger middles going in 30 degree heat playing all 80 minutes of the game. First place went to fullback Mikey Hayward, with the best part of 2 x carries per set, every set, he took an enormous workload of the forwards and constantly probed and tested the home sides defensive line being the start of the majority of the visitors line breaks, on top of this his composure and organisation at the back of the Bears defensive line was absolutely top notch and helped the team hold it together from first minute to last. A special mention must go to Sherburn stand off Hayes, who again rolled back the years with a vintage display in the halves, whether it be with hand or foot as the Bears ball carriers started to create the space he duly started to pull the strings on what was a memorable win for this season so far, but having weighed up all the pro’s and con’s he was denied a spot in the man of the matches because he missed a goal kick, some standards just have to be maintained regardless!
Sherburn will now look forward to the semi-final against another tough opponent in Stanningley A on Sat the 18th of July, as the other semi-final will be played between Hull Wyke the current leaders of Div 5 against either Methley or Crigglestone, a match due to be played this Saturday at Methley, best of luck to both teams in this quarter final. The Bears will return to league action at 2.30pm on Saturday 6th of June at Kings Cross Park A at Eversley Park, this will see the lads sporting this years new kit, and the taking of the team photos for the 2026 season as well as thanking the sponsors.
🐻
Cableco Romans Cable Contractors Ltd Fleetclean Ltd J P Plant hire IJB Plumbing & Heating Contractors
