Lancashire 38 Yorkshire 18: Hosts take charge of Bill Beaumont County Championship semi-final
A dominating performance at the Woodlands saw Lancashire beat Yorkshire by six tries to three in the first leg of their Bill Beaumont County Championship semi-final on Saturday.
The core of Lancashire’s squad was made up of 15 players from Fylde and Preston Grasshoppers, which was reflected in the greater collective understanding of the winners on the day.
Lancashire opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Tom Ailes broke out of his half, which the backline then built on.
They swept up the right touchline with a powerful burst seeing Leo Gilliland finish off in the corner, though Chris Johnson’s attempted conversion drifted wide.
Yorkshire full-back Will Baker punished Red Rose indiscipline with a penalty a couple of minutes later, followed by a driving maul which ended with Ben Stephenson claiming a try which put the visitors 8-5 in front.
Lancashire responded, pressing deep in the Yorkshire half and retaking the lead when their version of a driving maul saw Jack Ellam the last man up.
Yorkshire then dominated the next portion of the game, putting their noses in front as Ben Manderfield’s break set up Noah Cowan to sneak in at the corner and make it 13-10.
While there were periods in which the Yorkshire pack really stretched Lancashire’s defence, the hosts worked hard to repel the bigger White Rose forwards.
They fought back once again and led 17-13 at the break when Isaac Deans finished off Sam Freeman’s break downfield by going under the posts, Johnson converting.
The second half was rather different to the first as the Red Rose side took a stranglehold on possession and territory.
Another break by Freeman in the 44th minute saw him race clear of a despairing defence down the left touchline to score an excellent try, Johnson adding the extras from wide out as a 24-13 lead began to look decisive.
Lancashire continued to press deep in Yorkshire's half and after a number of attempts to break the last line of defence, Matt Sturgess took a quick penalty and found a gap to score in the 58th minute.
Johnson’s conversion made it 31-13 and, with points difference perhaps being crucial after the second leg of the semi-final, the Lancashire management urged on their charges from the sidelines.
They scored again in the 65th minute as Johnson was stopped inches from the line, only for Danny Rylance to pick up and drive over from close range.
The conversion made the score 38-13 with the certainty of a handsome victory, yet there was a late postscript in the 76th minute.
Yorkshire’s backs made ground down their right-hand side before James Norman put in a grubber kick along the touchline and raced through to get the touchdown.
That leaves the Red Rose with a 20-point advantage to take into the second leg at Hull Ionians on Saturday, with the aggregate winners meeting either Cornwall or Kent at Twickenham next month.
Lancashire: Freeman; Dorrington, Russell, Clayton, Gilliland; Johnson, Sturgess; Bowker, Ellam, Rylance, Garrod, Walton, Deans, Kasam-Sharples, Ailes. Replacements: Deeks, Kyle-Clay, Birchall, Castle, Rawlings, Williams, Browne, Gould.
Yorkshire: Baker; Jukes, Cicognini, Manderfield, Norman; Watts, Cowan; Dickinson, Stephenson, Mitchell, Makin, Harrison, Hastie, Henshall, Brankley. Replacements: Crowe, Wand, Bairstow, Patrick, Renouf, Keith, Hyde, Hinchliffe.