Wetherby complete convincing victory over Harrogate Pythons

Another beautiful Saturday for rugby, the Wetherby faithful made their way to Station view for a very pleasant pre match meal with the committee of Harrogate Pythons.

The armistice day minutes silence was respected and the game was kicked off by Wetherby. The first 15 minutes was a frenetic exchange of rugby with both teams happy to run it or kick it to gain field position. Just when Wetherby thought they had Harrogate pinned in to their own 22 the home team would regain possession and relieve the pressure with a hoof down field.

Wetherby started the game with a familiar front row of Kitching, Hoather and Mason and the first scrum of the game was to be a pre-cursor for the rest of the match with complete dominance. The visitors were building pressure and on 18 minutes earned a penalty in front of the sticks that Yates duly dispatched. 0-3

Wetherby are the quicker from the restart and pile on the pressure with big carries from Reid and Kitching and loads of grunt work done in the loose from Hoather and Greenwood. And with the sprightly Jefferson on the wing there was plenty of muscle in the backs too. And when said winger received the ball with a handful of Harrogate players to beat he bowled the first two over only to knock the ball on in the tackle at the third and final defender.

But it was an unlikely miskick that was to set up the first try for Wetherby. With Oates receiving the ball on the Harrogate 22 he crafted a kick through to the corner but which fortuitously bounced up in to the waiting arms of Harry Kaye who gratefully strolled through for the 5 points under the posts. With Yates’s conversion Wetherby found themselves 0-10 up.

This game wasn’t going all Wetherby’s way though (despite the obvious bias of the reporter) and Pythons pressure on the Wetherby defence told with their own penalty just outside the 22. But unlike Wetherby they opted to go for touch and then lost the resulting lineout. Get the scoreboard ticking over!

Wetherby were to be distracted by what appeared to be a very loud bee flying over the pitch. Looking to the dug out our usual No 8, Gilbert was sat with a headset on, flying a drone over the game to get valuable, and impressive footage for the club. But this was to be too much for many of the players and sadly he had to land the offending UFO after only a few minutes. More elevation next time and perhaps not right above your work colleague, Reid's head...

In the following phases of play where Jake Little and James Ward seemed to be at every carry and breakdown, the backs were yet again putting on the style. Sam Little sitting at inside centre attempted a three player miss pass which ended at the winger Beeson but was adjudged to be marginally forward.

Wetherby were not to have it all their own way, as Mason limped off with a seemingly match ending ankle injury. The squad is deep though and Land was ready and raring to get stuck in to the action. Which he did immediately at the first ruck with his trademark low body position and lower body strength, stole the ball and earned the team a penalty. And on the flip side, Blakey saw his regular yellow with an infringement at the breakdown. It’s interesting how he walks off every time shaking his head and berating the poor decision, or lack of understanding of the laws, from the ref…

Meanwhile Oates and Kaye were partnering up again with Kaye being the provider of a beautifully crafted kick through the Pythons defence that Oates ran on to and dotted down for Wetherby’s 2nd try. Converted from near the touch line by Yates 3-17.

Pythons are a plucky group of lads and continued to fight for every ball. When their opening arrived courtesy of their own creative skills with the boot, Sam Little was there to clean up and clear the ball to relieve the pressure.

Hoather was like a heat seeking missile with the ball from the lineout, with Reid being the hottest target on the pitch, and the home team came no where near competing in most of the line outs. From the pressure that these lineouts created the backs were marauding again with the ever green Jonny Day playing scrum half and orchestrating some lovely creative moves with Harry Kaye who brought in Oates and Little on the far wing. Yates joined in the fun and with an overload it looked like Wetherby’s top scorer was going to get one of his own but faced with 2 opposition players he offloaded (to the surprise of everyone) to Jim Greenwood who was perfectly placed to run the ball in under the posts (to the surprise of everyone!) and another 7 points for Wetherby 3-24.

And more was to come, or at least that’s what the Wetherby faithful thought as gaps opened up on the near side. And with some cultured training ground moves, Sam Little applied a burst of speed through the centres and seemingly was going all the way but had to pull up with a strain on one of his magnificent hamstrings. Coach Mason quickly juggled the pack and brought Johnson on. And quickly after Ward took a stinger to the shoulder and Draper took to the field to complete the three substitutes.

With Harrogate failing to take any advantage of their 1 man advantage Wetherby seemed to be really firing and with the play firmly in the Harrogate 22, Yates crafted a brilliant opening with a sidestep that Jason Robinson would have been proud of to score Wetherby’s 4th. Converting his own try, it took the visitors well clear 3-31

Yet the scoreline was actually a little flattering for the away side and with Pythons eager to avoid a rout they crafted their own flowing attack that resulted in an almost full length try. The conversion bounced back off the posts 8-31.

Both teams were tiring with the somewhat long grass and sloping pitch taking its toll on the players but Wetherby were keen to drive the win home. And in a similar position to the earlier Yates try, Land decided to craft a move of his own stepping inside and then outside his opposition to score arguably one of the tries of the match. 8-38

To close off what ended up being a comfortable win for Wetherby, Beeson took advantage of space and opposition tired legs to break through the Pythons defence and scored the final try of the match. Expertly converted by Yates and the final score was 8-45.