Sandal u14’s kicked off the 2025 with the Yorkshire Cup Quarter Final match at home to South Yorkshire counterparts Dinnington.

The Christmas break and postponements due to the weather had led to a lengthy lay off in matches, so it came as no surprise that both teams were a little rusty in the opening exchanges.
It took a while to get to grips with the size of their opponents, especially in the forwards. The powerful Dinno pack was making inroads into Sandal territory and was backed up by a solid set piece. But the Sandal 8 stuck to task and managed to get on top. Some strong carries from Teal and Brindley lead to a superb try by James Thomas-Humphries, the conversion missed. Dinnington however came right back at the home team with strong carries themselves, their impressive No8 was particularly strong here and caused a threat all day. Some stout defensive work, particularly by Harry James, kept Dinno out, but such commitment and bravery lead to the aforementioned openside James leaving the field with a wrist injury and minutes later Dinnington got on the score sheet, conversion also missed. HT Score 5-5

In the 2nd half Sandal brought on Hames and Dillon in the pack who instantly made a huge impact. Layson Dillon carried his team forward into heavy traffic, Walton reverted from 8 to centre, shoring up the mid-field defence and with Bridley a constant threat in attack Sandal now looked in the driving seat. A well worked move in mid-field created space out wide for Will Taylor to round his opposite number and cross for a try in the corner; with the conversion dropping short, Sandal maintained a 10-5 advantage going into the final 15 minutes. The game ebbed and flowed with both teams having their fair share of both territory and possession, however Sandal proved the fitter team in these crucial moments of the game, and it was this fitness and desire that saw them home and dry when the impressive Beesley barged his way over the line for a final unconverted score on the final whistle.

Final score was a very hard earned 15-5 win. Dinnington proved to be fantastic opposition and tested this Sandal team in ways that other teams haven’t so far this season. Credit to the boys who stuck at it, backed each other as a group and worked extremely hard to come out on top.
Report - Peter Massey