Grimsby II 19 Pocklington II 14
Grimsby Rufc 2nds played host to Pocklington on an afternoon more suited to water polo than rugby. The home side needed a boost after defeat the previous week at the hands of Lincoln but with so many changes it was going to be a challenge.From the kick-off, Grimsby proved they were up to it by soaking up the early pressure. Some fine tackling by the home forwards made Pocklington think twice about running the ball and, when they tried chipping it over the top, it was collected in the safe hands of Clem Cardoso, who set off on one of his now infamous jinking runs. The ball went through several pairs of hand before finding Mike Burton on the wing and he rounded two men and fell over the line for a fine try duly converted by Daley. Before the restart Grimsby lost prop Phil Hartshorn to injury and Ian Macdonald moved in to the front row, but this proved not one of his best decisions of the day. Pocklington lifted their game and camped in the home side's 22. Their forwards seemed determined not to leave until they had scored but Grimsby answered with a solid defence. Grimsby were reduced to 14 when the referee decided Ben Holt jnr deserved a yellow card for repetitive foul play. Pocklington elected to run the penalty, only to be stopped short of the line. The referee again produced the yellow card, this time for an alleged incident involving Holt snr. Down to 13 with 15 minutes to half-time, Grimsby needed to pull something special out of the bag and this came from the backs, who attacked with flair and imagination up to Pocklington's 22, where full-back Cardoso joined the line, received the pass and blasted over for a second try, again converted by Daley. Holt jnr rejoined the game just before half-time but, unfortunately, Holt snr had suffererd a suspected broken knuckle and played no further part.