Wharfedale Rugby 39 Points Vs Preston Grasshoppers 22 Points
Wharfedale RUFC ,
photo by Ro Burridge
Wharfedale played uphill in the first half and had to defend manfully. Good wide passing by Hoppers after excellent work by captain Paul Millea and then Sam Stott's final telling pass ensured that Tyler Spence could speed over in the corner (0-5). An outstanding piece of play by Sam Gaudie, punching above his weight as usual, saw him wrench the ball from three Hoppers forwards and set Rian Hamilton on a successful run to the line from well inside his own half on 14 minutes. He had work to do but easily beat the cover. Jack Blakeney-Edwards converted for his first points for Wharfedale.
The home side were then held up over the line before Hamilton scored his second on 16 minutes. Blakeney-Edwards again converted. It was not long before Edward Leatherbarrow and the opposition's outstanding player scored. Davidson converted. There were then bullocking runs by Proctor and Birch. They were stopped by more brave tackling, but a Lovegrove/Mann move counteracted this and ended with Gaudie being brought down just short of the line. Dale were penalised and Hoppers swept downfield to score in injury time, again through Spence.
photo by Ro Burridge
Within five minutes of the restart, we saw some of Wharfedale's best play of the match. Cicognini, Mann, Bullough and Gaudie all produced moments of brilliance, having accepted good ball from the forwards, but the impetuosity referred to above meant that another score did not come until the 50th minute when Tyson leapt high at the back of the line out and it was Matt Houghton who scored, aided in particular by Reece Ward (25-17). On 53 minutes Harry Bullough was yellow carded when he jumped for a high ball and four minutes later Alex Ward scored the inevitable try whilst we were down to 14 men.
On the hour we nearly scored on the left, but were forced out by an effective cover tackle. A vital steal by Josh Burridge was followed by a great break by Chris Walker at a time when Dan Stockdale had to go off with a cut. Sadly lost possession saw the Greens further back than where they started.
On 64 minutes, with Bullough back on the field, an interception of a looped and slightly forward pass saw Hamilton completing his hat trick. Blakeney-Edwards converted. Our last raid resulted in Philip Woodhead, who had come on for Gaudie after 62 minutes, putting Rhys Lovegrove away superbly for the final try, again converted by Blakeney-Edwards.
The 39-22 score line was hard on the Hoppers, but they had contributed to a thoroughly entertaining match. Their coach, known to us from our battles with Fylde, named Sam Gaudie as their man of the match, but one cannot ignore a hat trick, so Hamilton clinched that honour.
After the match, our coach Jon Feeley said this: "To beat any team in this league by such a margin is an outstanding effort. The boys have trained hard and we have been honest with ourselves. We must make our own luck and there is more to come. We did leave chances out there, but the team should be commended for a fantastic performance."
All the forwards contributed greatly to this win; it would be churlish not to mention this in case anyone feels some have been forgotten. Without their hard work, the backs could not have displayed such a variety of skills when on the front foot. The Greens must surely maintain the momentum now. The loyal band of supporters expect nothing less.
| More articles in this series... | |
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| Stourbridge 37 Wharfedale 27 | |
| Wharfedale Lose Tight Match | |
| Wharfedale 14 Otley 16 | |
| Hinckley 33 Wharfedale 24 | |
| Wharfedale 26 Sedgley Park 19 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale Foresters 24 Pocklington 13 | |
| Match Report: Peterborough Lions 12 Wharfedale 26 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 17 Rotherham Titans 12 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 30 Macclesfield 21 | |
| Match Report: Tynedale 22 Wharfedale 24 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 44 Hinckley 19 | |
| Match Report: South Leicester 27 Wharfedale 16 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 24 Sedgley Park 31 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 6 Sale 20 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 14 Tynedale 33 | |
| Match Report: Sheffield Tigers 0 Wharfedale 16 | |
| Winning Run Ends In Lions Den | |
| Match Report: Blaydon 14 Wharfedale 30 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 22 Chester 20 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 16 Sheffield 10 | |
| Match Report: Stourbridge 29 Wharfedale 18 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 34 Luctonians 15 | |
| Match Report: Hinckley 20 Wharfedale 17 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 28 South Leicester 25 | |
| Match Report: Sale 48 Wharfedale 16 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 33 Sheffield Tigers 53 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 10, Leicester Lions 24 | |
| Match Report: Huddersfield 43 Wharfedale 27 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 19 Blaydon 27 | |
| Match Report: Chester 10 Wharfedale 3 | |
| Match Report: Sheffield 10 Wharfedale 17 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 10 Stourbridge 45 | |
| Match Report: Luctonians 26 Wharfedale 14 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 14 Otley 17 | |
| Match Report: Macclesfield 41 Wharfedale 15 | |
| Match Report: Hull Ionians 31 Wharfedale 10 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 17 Kirkby Lonsdale 7 | |
| Match Report: Preston Grasshoppers 34 Wharfedale 41 | |
| Match Report: Wharfedale 19 Caldy 20 | |
| Match Report: Scunthorpe 27 Wharfedale 26 | |
Wharfedale Rugby 39 Points Vs Preston Grasshoppers 22 Points, 7th October 2018, 9:05 AM