Wetherby grind our win against Wensleydale

With the legend of the Wensleydale mullets being the talk of the town, Wetherby broke out their own prize mullet with George Chaffer returning from university to don the red and white.

Wetherby started the game nicely and got into a good early rhythm, finding early territory in the Wensleydale camp. An indiscretion around the ruck gave Wetherby an early penalty, which was duly converted by Charlie Yates. 3-0.

The resulting kick-off was fielded by Wetherby but a laboured clearance kick by Steve Hoather was charged down and Wensleydale pounced on the loose ball first. With the home defence under pressure, it was Wensleydale’s turn to earn a penalty, converted by their fly-half Jack Reynard. 3-3.

As the game reached midway through the first half, it became a scrappy affair. Wetherby found themselves without their usual scrum dominance and despite coming close to the Wensleydale line twice, they weren’t clinical enough to cross the whitewash.

In a real ding dong between two physical packs, the ball rarely found it’s way wide. On the first occasion the ball did move through the backs, Myles Oates found a huge hole in the centres to run through before putting away Charlie Yates to run through and dot down in the corner for Wetherby’s first try. The conversion missed. 8-3.

Half-time: Wetherby 8 - 3 Wensleydale

Wensleydale started the second half by again capitalising on Wetherby’s inability to clear their lines from their own kick-off. Despite some stoic maul defence from the Wetherby pack, another infringement at the breakdown gave Wensleydale the chance to close the gap with another Reynard penalty. 8-6.

In this topsy turvy encounter, it was Wetherby who were next to get onto the front foot in attack. Some good counter-attacking from Sam Little set the tone before a powerful carry up the middle by his brother Jake. A half gap opened up, and it was Yates again who took full advantage to burst through a gap and bamboozle half a dozen defenders as he ghosted in for his second try. Conversion missed. 13-6.

With a little bit of breathing space, Wetherby seemed to take their foot completely off the gas. The visiting pack were starting to find some holes in the Wetherby defence and again caused the home team to transgress whilst scrambling in defence. Reynard took the 3. 13-9.

The resulting kick-off was cleared well by Wensleydale, with one of their props noting that the ball was kicked “Right over’t bloody lambin’ shed”! Wetherby lost the resulting line out and soon found themselves defending their line again. Despite some huge defensive efforts from Henry Acland and James Ward, Wensleydale eventually knocked down the door through their captain Ewan Metcalfe. Reynard converted and Wensleydale had the lead. 13-16.

In the melee of Wetherby’s scramble defence, they found themselves down to 14 men following a yellow card to Bradley Mason. Wetherby missed the opportunity to draw level and following a scrappy five minutes of play, Wensleydale earned themselves another penalty just inside the Wetherby half. To the surprise of the home fans, the visitors opted for a shot at goal. An outstanding effort from Reynard extended the Wensleydale lead with ten minutes to go. 13-19.

Another bit of fantastic counter attacking from Charlie Yates was the catalyst to Wetherby’s next attack. From deep inside his own half he found space down the left wing and put a kick through for Jonny Day to chase. Day’s pressure forced the retreating fullback to kick the ball over his own dead ball line and give Wetherby a five-metre scrum.

On a day where Wetherby had not had it all their own way at scrum-time, they found themselves with the familiar trio of Evan Woodworth, Steve Hoather and Bradley Mason packing down for a crucial set piece. This time their strength shine through as they pushed over the line allowing George Gilbert to finish neatly from the back of the scrum. Conversion missed. 18-19.

The last five minutes of the game were tense. Very tense. A fantastic turnover by Will Blakey at the breakdown gave Yates the chance to win the game with a penalty. Unfortunately Yates pulled the kick wide.

Wensleydale launched the ball down field and found the mercurial Harry Kaye. Kaye stamped his mark on the game as he ghosted through defenders and got to the opposition 22. With the Wensleydale defender convinced a drop goal was coming, he launched himself recklessly at scrum half Toby Redman, nearly decapitating him in the process, and giving Wetherby a penalty straight in front.

Despite being 1 from 6 from his earlier attempts, Yates puffed out his chest, went for goal with the last kick of the game, and slotted the ball straight through the middle of the posts to deliver an extremely hard-fought victory against a very good opposition!

Full time: Wetherby 21 - 19 Wensleydale

MOM: Charlie Yates