Match Reports 28th-29th March 2026

by | Mar 30, 2026 | Match Report, Senior Rugby

SCUNTHORPE 61 – PRESTON GRASSHOPPERS 33

Scunthorpe was one of the two games that was played in national 2 north this weekend and a win today would help them keep the pressure on Rossendale to avoid the automatic relegation drop.

Three changes were made to the starting XV which saw Nick Dyson make his return to second row replacing Ben Hyde who moved back to number 8, replacing Laurence Pearce.

In the backs Will Horner started on the wing and Lewis Talbot was moved to Full back Wiht Louie Cooke on the bench.

The game kicked off from the homeside and we were underway, and it would the vistiors who get early points, a scum midfield to Preston was won successfully and a simple flat pass broke Scunthorpes defence an insdie pass back to the winger saw him untouched and scored under the posts, conversion successful and the game was 7-0 to vistors.

Scunthorpe would answer back quickly after a penalty was conceded by Preston in the middle of the pitch, Ethan Taylor kicked it onto their 5 metre line, a well rehearsed driving maul peeled off and saw Olly Arnold score the try, conversion was successful and the scoreline was back square.

After a bit of play in the middle of the park, Scunthorpe would grab their secodn, it came from a Preston Penalty underneath the sticks, a couple of phases drew in Prestons defence and Dylan Martin powered himself over to score Scunthorpes second of the match, conversion was successfully taken by Will Dark and the score was now 14-7 to Scunthorpe.

Scunthorpe grabbed another try and it was Dylan Martin again, another penalty in the middle of the pitch saw Ethan Taylor kick it into the corner another rolling maul was stopped this time and it looked like Scunthorpe were going to be held up, some quick offloads saw Dylan bounce off the tackler to score his second, conversion was successful and the score is now 21-7 to Scunthorpe.

Scunthorpe would seal the try bonus point and it was scored by scrum half Joey Mowbray a couple of phases through the middle of the park put Scunthorpe on the front foot, a clever pick and go at the base of the scrum by Nick Dyson opened up a gap for Joey who scored under the posts, conversion was successful and the score was now 28-7 to Scunthorpe.

Scunthorpe would get their 5th try before the half ended and it would come after the Preston Grasshopper’s hooker was sin binned for collapsing a scrum, Scunthorpe kicked it into the corner, another maul fell just short but drew a lot Prestons defence, a simple pass from Ethan to Ethan saw Heath-Drury run in to score underneath the posts, conversion was successful and the first half ended 35-7 to Scunthorpe.

HT Scunthorpe 35- Preston Grasshoppers 7

Preston got us underway for the second half underway.

In the middle of the park, Preston failed a set play and knocked on which was booted forward and regatherd by Lewis Talbot an offload went backwards and was regathered by Will Horner who dived over for his first try of the match, conversion was unsuccessful and the scoreline was now 40-7.

Scunthorpe grabbed another try and it came from Joey Mowbrey again, a break through by Ben Hyde drew in the last defender, a simple pass to Joey saw him run the rest of pitch with no defenders near him and he scored underneath the posts, conversion was unsuccessful and the score was now 47-7.

Preston would answer back with a try of their own, after numerous penalties were conceded in Scunthorpe’s 5 metre line the ref had no choice but award a yellow card for James Dyson, Preston elected for the scrum and pushed Scunny’s pack back which allowed the Number 8 to score, conversion was successful and the score was now 47-14.

Scunthorpe would answer back quickly after a penalty was conceded by Preston straight after the restart, Scunthorpe kicked the ball into the corner, the forwards went for another driving maul which was successfully scored by Marcus Payne, conversion was successfully taken and the scoreline was now 54-14 to the home side.

Scunthorpe scored another and it came from Preston losing the ball forward the home side elected to pass the ball and it reached Will Robinson who used his pace to beat the defenders and score, conversion was unsuccessful and the scoreline was now 61-14 to Scunthorpe.

Preston would grab their third later on after Scunthorpe conceded another penalty inside their 22 a powerful run from the inside centre scored just outside of the posts, conversion was successful and the score was now 61-21.

Preston would then grab their try bonus point and it came from a switch back in play to the number 10 who then passed it inside to the full back who slipped but still managed to score under the posts, conversion was unsuccessful and the score was now 61-28 to Scunthorpe.

Preston managed to get on final try before the end of the game, when their was a scrum awarded to Preston in the middle of the pitch, they won the ball back and after some quick hands from the backs they broke through to score their 5th try of the match, the conversion was missed and ref blew for full time.

FT Scunthorpe 61- Preston Grasshoppers 33

The 1st team next fixture is up against potential runners up Tynedale as Scunthorpe continue their search for survival in Nat 2.

MOTM-Ben Hyde

Match report written by Charley Wilkinson

Photo credit to Paul McDonald

 

WOMEN’S TEAM

SCUNTHORPE 86 – KESTEVEN – 0

Scunthorpe Women welcomed Kesteven Women to Oglesby Park , our first league meeting of the season 🙌🏻
From the kick off the elements were in full force which Scunthorpe used to their advantage with Cassie securing a 50/22 to put us on the front foot.
Once we got going we never let off the gas, our scrum today was not to play a part as Kesteven went down to 14 early on and we needed to go uncontested.
We didn’t let this phase us and still recycled the ball well and built momentum going forward in attack, when we pressured Kesteven in defence they made errors and we used the ball well to our strengths.
We further had to drop players due to injuries for Kesteven.
The tries that flowed across the park were real team tries that everyone had a hand in , the line out today was well drilled and the forwards showed great strength and tenacity which saw some metres made through their mauls and got us on the front foot.
As always the women showed great character and determination 👏🏻
It was a fantastic game of rugby for the Scunthorpe Women and showcased what we can do as a team 💚💚 Final score was 86-0
Tries :
Ella 🏉🏉🏉
Cassie 🏉🏉🏉
Ewa 🏉🏉🏉🏉
Poppy 🏉
Victoria 🏉
Gabby 🏉
Penalty 🏉 + C
Cassie x 7 conversions
Player of the match / Coaches Player : Gabby for her barnstorming runs slicing through the defence. 👏🏻
Oppositions player : Ella once again the oppo struggled to keep her weaving runs in check and she finished her tries well 👏🏻

Photos from Paul McDonald 

 

2nd TEAM

SCUNTHORPE 32 – COALVILLE 12

The Stags travelled down the M1 to Leicestershire, and it coincided with the annual bus outing for the Stags with the fancy dress theme of Wrestlers.

Both sides had to ‘wrestle’ with an arctic wind blowing across the pitch as they tried to adjust to the conditions.

Scunthorpe pressed Coalville into giving away several penalties and after 15 minutes Alfie Taylor barged his way over for a try, it came from a penalty to the visitors, Henry Dawson put the ball deep into opposition 22 and from the line out they kept it tight, eventually Taylor guided the ball over, the conversion went just wide, 0-5.

Coalville earned themselves a penalty on the Green 22 metre line bang in front of the posts but their scrum half James Phelps mis-judged the cross wind and the chance went begging.

On the half hour mark Cam Christer scored Stags second try, the forwards were really dominating their opponents and Henry Dawson was marshalling the backs as Scunthorpe adapted far better to the conditions, good ball retention, moving left and right saw them deep in the Coalville 22, from a ruck 10m out Christer ran an excellent line to split the defence and score under the posts Dawson converted, 0-12.

Half time came and saw Stags change ends in a comfortable position but needing to stretch the lead to secure the win.

Three minutes in and another penalty was awarded to Scunthorpe on the Leicester outfit’s 22m line, Henry Dawson dropped it perfectly into touch 5m out, the line out was working well with both main jumpers cleaning up, from the catch and drive it was well controlled at the back by Alfie Taylor who crashed over for his second try, Henry Dawson converting from wide out just faded past the right hand upright, 0-17.

Another penalty was given to the Stags just to the right of the posts on the 22 and Dawson accepted the offer to slot it over to stretch the lead to 0-20, with 50 minutes on the clock Coalville got their first entry on the scoreboard with a converted try, 7-20.

Five minutes later after some careful consideration the referee awarded Scunthorpe a penalty try, from yet another Coalville penalty the excellent lineout provided quality ball, and slick handling saw it moved along the line with the try line begging, the Coalville player deliberately knocked on, thus preventing a certain try and the match official gave the penalty try, 7-27.

The penalties kept flowing as the home side continued to get the wrong side of the referee, on the hour Charley Aitkenhead scored one of his typically robust tries. He received the ball on the wing with little outside space, with sheer guts and determination, he got over the line but the conversion went wide.

The score of 7-32 gave the Stags the breathing space as they managed the last twenty perfectly.

Coalville came back with a couple of penalties, and then their scrum half Phelps converted his own consolation try to finish the game 14-32.

The Stags played well and thoroughly deserved this bonus point win which moved them to third in the league behind Mansfield and Syston.

Young prop Ben Dealtry was deservedly given the player of the match, next weekend being Easter sees the boys rested and the following week they will host Loughborough at Heslam Park.

Mom – Ben Dealtry

Match report written by Steve Williams

Development

Scunthorpe 33- Goole 12

The Devs team were at home and welcomed Goole for their penultimate home game of the season, a win today would increase the chances of securing a home semi-final playoff spot.

The game kicked off and we were underway and it would be the home side who were the first ones to score, after an impressive defensive display, Scunthorpe win the ball back, a flat pass to Cam James saw him beat his opposite man and dive over to score his first of the match, conversion was missed and the score was now 5-0.

Scunthorpe knew they needed the full 5 points and went searching for another try and it would come from Cam James again, after a penalty saw Scunthorpe close to the line a simple show and go broke the Goole defence and one offload to Cam saw him dive over to score in the corner, conversion was successful and the scoreline was now 12-0.

Cam went on to complete his hattrick, a scrum midfield put the travelling side under a lot of pressure the ball was shipped out and Cam ran through to score his third of the match and complete his hattrick.

Goole would answer back just before half time, numerous penalties conceded by Scunthorpe saw 2 players leave on yellow cards, an overlap was created on the far side but was tackled just short of the line, however, a quick pick and go from the edge of the ruck was to fast for Scunthorpe to react quickly enough and Goold went over, conversion was missed and the ref blew for half time.

HT Scunthorpe 19- Goole 5

The second half was underway and Scunthorpe would score their fourth try of the match and it would be Cam again, Scunthorpe saw themself near the tryline a couple of phases drew the defence in and Cam walked over to score his fourth try, conversion was successful and the score was now 26-5.

Goole would answer back and it came through some patient play and again, numerous penalties conceded by the home side saw Goole inches away from the try line, another pick and go was scored nearer to the posts this time and the conversion was successful.

Scunthorpe would put the game to bed and this time it was not Cam who scored, the try came from scrum half Liam Barrett after a maul  was collapsed inside the 22 metre line a gap opened up for 9 who showed his pace to beat off tacklers and dive over to score his first of the match, he then converted his own try and the match was now 33-12.

Goole continued to try and get a couple more tries to salvage something from this game, however, Scunthorpes defence shut them out and the ref blew for full time.

Scunthorpe 33 – Goole 12

Mom- Cam James

Match report written by Charley Wilkinson

 

COLTS

SCUNTHORPE 6 – AIREBOROUGH 35

Match report pending

Mom – TBC

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0