A very special evening of rugby was witnessed by a large crowd from North and West Yorkshire braving the cold wind. The two teams played entertaining rugby throughout and it was a clean, hard fought match despite two late yellow cards which caused the home side to end the match with 13 players. The referee entered into the spirit of the game as befitted a man whom we nicknamed Jimmy Edwards due to his looks, in no way suggesting that he gave a comic performance. For the benefit of younger readers of this report Jimmy was a comedy writer and actor of stage, radio, TV and film with a huge moustache and who was a close friend of Eric Sykes.

At half time having played up the hill the Greens led 21-0. Yarnbury kicked off downhill but soon lost the advantage and within six minutes Jimmy Howarth was kicking for goal when the Greens were awarded a penalty. He missed to the right. When the next penalty was awarded Will Bell kicked to the corner and a try nearly resulted. The Greens exerted further pressure, but lost possession after good Yarnbury defence near their line. A Jack Kitching burst threatened and from a resultant scrum Josh Burridge scored on 16 minutes with Jimmy Howarth converting (7-0). A knock on soon after the restart ended with huge pressure near the away team’s line and another try from Burridge, again converted by Howarth. (14-0).

Bell’s kicking from hand again caused confusion in the visitors’ ranks and a knock on by fly half Lee led to an advantage and a third try after 22 minutes for the ever alert Burridge. This was again converted by Howarth. (21-0). Wharfedale continued to exert pressure led on this occasion by scrum half Sam Esner, but Yarnbury were coming more into the game although they continued to make handling errors at vital moments. On the other hand Spencer Bennett and Craven, Rogers and Hall were making inroads, but lack of precision when calmness was needed meant that the score remained at 21-0 at half time.

The Greens threatened at the start of the second half via backs and forwards alike and a tremendous burst through several tackles by the irrepressible Burridge from 30 metres out saw him score his fourth try to make the score 26-0. A raid right followed with Luther Hall providing the final pass for Will Bell to go over under the posts for a try comfortably converted by Howarth (33-0).

At last a Wharfedale error enabled Yarnbury to take a tap penalty, run from halfway with Stafford and Eaton combining and score, leaving Lee to convert ( 33-7). The Greens were the next to score through Oliver Hill, but a poor pass short of Bell enabled an interception which led to a second try for the visitors (38-14). The home team’s penultimate try was scored by Macale Halliday after a successful line out and Howarth again added the two points. The final try was scored by Howarth himself to take his tally to 18 points, even more than he had amassed at Keighley.

The best period of the match for the visitors then followed with some excellent combined play which led to two converted tries and a final 5 pointer and a total of 33 points. A penalty just before full time kicked predictably by our full back made the final score 53-33.

It would be unfair to say that Wharfedale had eased off. It was more that Yarnbury had started to play without fear and were showing why they had reached the final. 5 tries to each side in the second half was a fair reflection of an absorbing final period which was really appreciated by both sets of supporters and made a wonderful conclusion to a most enjoyable season.

Many, many thanks to both teams, coaches and officials and to the very special support from those who attended. Rugby continues to thrive in Yorkshire if this series of the Aire Wharfe Cup is anything to go by. Here’s to next season and more 2nd and 3rd team fixtures. We have some outstanding young players who play the game in the right spirit and who deserve match time.