Wetherby Come Out Top in Yorkshire 1 Headliner

On the 18th November 2023 Wetherby hosted West Leeds, a club with near 100 year history and the original home club of our ex President Mel Jones. Whilst this added a bit of spice, it was to be a top of the table clash with West Leeds 2 points ahead of Wetherby, atop Yorkshire 1. With Wetherby in their highest league position in its history, a bonus point win would take them top – there was much at stake.

And from the very kick off the game didn’t disappoint. In front of 140 supporters from both sides Yates started proceedings and Mason and Hoather were immediately up in the Leeds faces. With two 6ft 4” second rows in Acland and Johnson there promised to be many turnovers in the rucks and all areas hotly contested. But Leeds were to get the better of the early exchanges and indiscipline from Wetherby gave away a penalty in front of the posts that was duly dispatched 0-3.

The committee meal pre match had provided some useful insight with the prediction being that Leeds would be stronger in scrums but Wetherby dominant in the backs. The first opportunity to demonstrate the backs skills came early with Redman, Day, Oates and Kay combining beautifully to open up big spaces in the Leeds defence but were to be thwarted in the Leeds 22 once they had chance to reorganise. And it was Leeds who took advantage of some lax defence when, seemingly from no where their 10 skipped through a gaping hole in the Wetherby defence but Yates at full back slowed his progress until the defence reorganised.

The game was frenetic with possession switching regularly and some good rugby played by both teams. But it was a poor clearance from Leeds that gave Wetherby the lineout. Quick thinking Oates spotted an opportunity to take advantage of the disorganised Leeds defence and threw in to Hoather who, to be fair t him, wasn’t quite as quick thinking and had to juggle the ball to bring it under control before setting off on one of his trademark runs. Blakey and Reid were in support and Wetherby powered forward to the Leeds 22 and from the developing maul Blakey dotted down for the first try. Yates duly converted to take Wetherby ahead 7-3.

The pace in the match was relentless and al most from the kick off Wetherby gained solid ball in the middle of the park. And it was a bit of magic from our most awarded man of the match, Gilbert that opened up a gap at the side of the ruck to break through. Johnson was on his shoulder and accepted the seemingly try scoring pass but was overwhelmed by the 4 Leeds defenders hanging off him and unfortunately knocked on.
Have we mentioned scrums yet? No? Oh ok then. The first scrum went to Leeds. And with their bravado on Insta the crowd were literally salivating as the lads crouched. With what was probably Wetherby’s biggest pack and arguably first choice, Wetherby showed their dominance with Leeds having to take more than a couple of steps back.

As usual Jake Little was making a nuisance of himself all over the pitch. However an early hit that seemed to knock the wind out of him proved to be his downfall as after a second hit he had to go off and wasn’t to play a further part in the game. Greenwood joined the game and a seamless juggle of the pack saw utility man Blakey out to wing and Greenwood in the back row.

Leeds were pressing hard and had a consistent period of time in the Wetherby half. Defence has been a major focus of coach Woodworth’s philosophy and you could see all that training in action as Wetherby repelled the Leeds efforts. But a penalty again was to be the home sides downfall and Leeds converted to bring the score tight at 7-6.

Weth ‘s lineout has been strong all season and today was to be a demonstration of lineout skills with Hoather hitting whatever target was thrown in to the air. Gilbert was the grateful recipient on many occasions as Leeds seemed to be covering the threat that Reid and Johnson were providing. From this lineout Gilbert popped it off to Greenwood who drove the hard yards popping it to Oates and then on to Yates who skipped through the Leeds defence to score. Conversion missed 12-6

Have I mentioned the scrums yet? Weth against the head drove Leeds back and with the Leeds pack in disarray set up another attack. Acland was the recipient of a swift pass from Redman who expertly off loaded to Greenwood and then on to Hoather who gratefully accepted the ball and slumped over the line for Wetherby’s 3rd try. Conversion scored and Wetherby were 19-6 up.

These West Leeds lads were a resilient bunch though and took the initiative from the kick off, camping in the Wetherby half. But as Weth recovered the ball Gilbert was subjected to a high tackle by the Leeds No 4 and he was off for 10 minutes. It was clear the American ref was listening to the advice of Adair in the stands “He’s got to roll” (No 1 of his favourite sayings whilst spectating) as he further penalised the Leeds forwards. Not only were Wetherby dominant in their own lineout but also benefited from a Leeds lineout towards the end of the first half and Gilbert found himself fouled yet again to shouts of “He’s got to go” from Adair (Favourite shout No 2…) but the referee took no further action and Wetherby progressed rapidly up the pitch getting in to a trademark scoring position.

The Wetherby faithful new what was coming and with the whistle imminent to signal the end of the 1st half the supporters cheered them on as they drove toward the try line. And from the stands they appeared comfortably over with the final move being Gilbert dropping on the ball but in a moment of madness Redman decided to join in the forwards fun, what was he thinking, and lurched forward to dot down but collided with Gilbert and the ball was knocked on. Gilbert was not happy, and Redman, entirely out of character for the unflustered scrum half, seemed to be feeling the pressure from this table topping match.

Half time 19-9 (there was another pen for Leeds but can’t remember when)

Whatever coach Mason and captain Oates said to the team at half time worked as they started the first half on fire. In what might have been their best move so far Yates fed Blakey who bowled over his opposing winger and off loaded to Oates who played in Redman and then back to Oates who sprinted down the wing for a ‘50 yard’ try. Conversion missed 24-9

As the match rumbles on to the middle of the second half Leeds were showing signs of more dominance and a number of unforced errors seemed to give them an edge. But again the backs turned on the style whenever they could and when Yates off loaded to Kaye, then on to Oates who majestically drew two players before passing to Beeson it seemed like another try was on the cards but he was to be bundled in to touch without any supporting runners who could keep up with him.

The ref had been quite strict in his decisions and when Leeds unduly delayed a lineout (possibly wondering where the hell to put it so that they avoided Reid, Acland and Johnson) Wetherby were awarded a scrum. This was to be Wetherby’s biggest single demonstration of dominance as the Leeds scrum literally crumbled and Wetherby were awarded a penalty 27-9.

As mentioned earlier Leeds are a very good side and to their credit kept on finding ways to put Weth under pressure which resulted in their own try under the posts 27-16.

Wetherby seemed to be doubting their abilities with passes going astray and the usual clinical defence showing some gaps. In a phase where Wetherby had gained some territory, Leeds secured possession and produced a very good clearance kick in to Wetherby’s half but a miscommunication between Redman and Beeson saw the ball knocked in to touch by the home team, another unforced error that caused a degree of nervousness in the stands. And justifiably so as Leeds gained encouragement and despite resolute tackling from the LMES duo Gilbert and Reid, Leeds scored 27-23.

The momentum was all with Leeds and now within a try of Wetherby the pressure was really on. And so it was time for Wetherby to go back to basics and executed yet another perfect lineout that created space for Yates to kick in to, pushing the Leeds team back in to their own 22. Both teams were throwing everything in to every tackle but with massive carries from Woodworth (sponsored by Network Marketing Recruitment ?) Hoather and Johnson opened up the smallest of gaps for Gilbert who wormed his way through for Wetherby’s 5th try. 34-23.

As the game went in to overtime Wetherby weren’t taking anything for granted and after another immense pressure relieving kick from Yates that put Wetherby on the attack again, Gilbert found himself with another half chance and scored with the clock ticking down. 39-23.

Respect and appreciation to the subs who did not get in to the match today, Land and Kitching – it seemed that despite the physicality of the game the Wetherby players would have to be carried off to create an opportunity for them to come on.

Final Score 39-23.
Man of the Match - George Gilbert sponsored by Local Renewable Services, your friendly solar power and renewable energy provider.

The 2nds win a bizarre game 27-24 having been down 24-0 at half time to the Sheffield Engineers. Marcus little’s half time team talks did the trick again!