08/08/2026
🔴🔵🐻 Match report 📋
Saturday saw Sherburn travel away to Odsal for the Yorkshire Men’s League Plate Final against Hull Wyke, the last of 4 games on the day with a kick off at 5pm. Having overcome two very good sides in York Acorn away and Stanningley at home in the quarter finals and semi final respectively Sherburn now faced stiff opposition in the final against a high flying Hull Wyke who having lost only one game away at York Acorn in the league sit clear at the top of division 5, hammering their second place rivals Crigglestone to get to the final.
Sherburn Kicked off to start the match and couldn’t have been happier with their opening defensive set restricting Wyke to their own 30 meter line with crunching tackles flying in from Layton Orford, Matty Burke and veteran loose forward Ben Pugh restricting the Hull forwards, however a wicked bounce of the egg following the kick on the last from Hull saw the ball bounce back into the hands of the chasing Wyke halfback who gleefully scooped the ball up and dived over under the sticks to open the scoring at 6-0 with just a minute played, not the start the Bears were looking for after all!
The resulting restart saw the ball kicked out on the full and Sherburn defending their own line with Hull now in their full stride and brimming with confidence that this game was going to be theirs for the taking, only excellent last ditch defence saw Wyke held up over the line with full back Mikey Hayward getting under the ball, despite playing with only one working arm after injuring the other trying to stop the first score. Sheburns excellent goal line scramble saw the threat ended and the Bears finally got their hands on the ball. The next 15 minutes of the game was an out and out arm wrestle as Sherburn tried to get a foothold in the match, and gradually off the back of Hulls indiscipline the Bears started to see some ball in Wykes half, a couple of early attacks came to nothing as Hull scrambled well and dealt with the threat on the edges, but eventually the pressure told and a lovely move with the ball passing through hands from Pugh to Hayes and then Hayward saw centre Tom Romans burst through the line to score in the corner, no conversion from Hayes from the touchline but Sherburn were back in the game at 6-4.
Again the match turned back into an arm wrestle with both teams trying to dominate field position, great work from ho**er Tom Best around the ruck and excellent carries from Lucas Ketteridge, Burke, Dom Romans and Hayward saw the Bears starting to dominate the metres battle, however it would be Wyke who would strike first when a clever chip over the top was regather by the influential Wyke pivot to see them score generally against the run of play, again they converted from under the posts to take a 12-4 lead with 25 minutes gone. Sherburn though were not to be deterred and continued to increase the pressure, some more Wyke ill discipline gifted the Bears ball in Hulls half and Sherburn duly responded with beautiful score of their own, Hayes grubbering the ball back against the grain for Hayward to regather and score at the side of the sticks, Hayes converted and Sherburn were once more back in the hunt at 12-10.
The Bears now started to hit their stride with Best and Dom Romans making big meters they rolled Wyke downfield and fashioned arguably the best score of the game when a flowing move saw back rower Danny Gill burst through the line before following an exquisite pass from Hayes before feeding fleet footed winger Euan Mills Hughes to score in the corner, no mistake this time with the touchline conversion from Hayes saw the Bears hit the front for the first time 12-16 with 33 minutes played. Sherburn continued to push forwards now hitting their stride, and it was that man again in Hayes who dummied to kick on the last before sending the ball to his left where back row forward Ethan Potts sent centre Lucas Ketteridge bursting through the line with a deft pass, Ketteridge then fed the ball to young Best who dived over to score at the side of the sticks with 38 minutes of the half played, Hayes added the extras to take the score at half time to 12-22, with Sherburn now firmly in control of the game.
The second half started and soon became a slogging match down the centre of the park as both teams looked to get back on top, it would be Hull Wyke who would break the deadlock 15 minutes into the second half when their creative pivot again manufactured a score from his boot when a pin point grubber kick through the line from 15 metres out saw the ball regathered by the chasing Wyke attacker to dive over at the side of the sticks, converting the score put Hull back in the game at 18-22. Both teams went at each other in a pulsating period of the game with defences on top, cleverly slowing the ruck speed down Wyke managed to start getting on top of the Bears and saw themselves camped in Sherburns twenty for 3 consecutive sets, with desperate last ditch tackles from Kyle Dutson, Tom Romans, Gill, Ketteridge, Orford, Pugh and Dom Romans keeping Hull from crossing. Weathering this storm seemed to take some of the belief out of Wyke and Sherburn seized their opportunity and finally got the chance to have a look at Hulls line, who in fairness scrambled equally well determined not to concede, it would fall to playmaker Hayes to dummy his way over from acting half a yard out from Wykes try line to score, duly converting to put Sherburn 2 scores up with just 5 minutes left to play and effectively winning the game.
Unfortunately for all concerned the last couple of minutes was marred by a brawl when Wykes big number 13 decided to try and have a pop at Sherburns influential young 19 year old ho**er Best after the ball had been passed, not that surprising as Wykes loose forward had been the main instigator of some questionable s**t housery throughout the match and we can only assume he had had enough of the diminutive Best ripping up their defensive line for the best part of 80 minutes, the rest of the Bears players weren’t having it and a lot of pushing and shoving ensued which was all the excuse wooden top Cam Romans needed to headbutt one of the Wyke players, you might ask what he was thinking with just 2 minutes of the game left but unfortunately thinking isn’t one of Cams strong points, despatched from the field with a red card, he can at least take some solace in his new found internet notoriety.
Incredibly difficult to pick a man of the match for Sherburn on a day when every single player put their bodies on the line for their team mates with Layton Orford, Matt Burke, Danny Gill and Lucas Ketterige all deserving of an award on their own as only the unbelievable efforts in defence led by Orford kept the Bears from loosing, but ultimately without scoring the points they couldn’t have won. In third place playing the full game with one arm and influential in so much of getting the Bears on the front foot was fullback Hayward. Second place went to young ho**er Best who belied his tender years and small stature to be a colossus in defence and a constant thorn in the side of Hulls defence causing them problems around the ruck all afternoon. First place goes to Hayes, with a score of his own plus three assists, as well as converting 4 from 5 tries with one of them on the touchline, Hayes was at the heart of all of Sherburns try scoring threat, it was no surprise that as the Bears gained the ascendency in terriorty that Hayes pulled the strings and took control of the game to ultimately be the architect of all of Sherbuns points.
A final mention must go to head coach Craig Oliver, in only his first season in charge he has overseen the clubs climb to the top of the division 4 table as well as masterminding the sides first cup final victory in a number of years, from all of the committee, players and supporters we cant thank Craig enough for all his hard work and commitment he has shown this season, without which we wouldn’t see the club in the healthy position it is now.
Back to league action today as the Bears welcome Halifax outfit Kings Cross Park to Sherburn for a match that will be played as a double header with agreement from both clubs and the league in an attempt to get through the league fixtures remaining and with limited weekends to play them. Kick off at 2.30pm Eversley Park, come down and support your local team, and up the Bears! 🐻🔵🔴
Thanks again to Cableco Romans Cable Contractors Ltd who sponsored team coach as well as being our main kit sponsor
