Grange Park was resplendent after a deluge of rain on Friday and the grounds were even starting to look like they might have a bit of give in them! Our Captain, Stephen Hoather looked equally resplendent having visited his local barbers for a short back and sides – very smart. But poor Blakey was full of cold and insisted on another Lemsip before he went out.
And as he joined the rest of the lads in the warm up pre-match they looked like true professionals in their Kapia Partners sponsored training tops and matching Cleverass shorts – thank you to all of our sponsors for their support.

The match kicked off with a brisk south-easterly wind and Wetherby choose to have it in their favour in the first half. Despite this obvious benefit it was Dinnington who trundled their way down the pitch led by an experienced and weighty pack. Even with the benefit of 2 cheap penalties conceded by Wetherby, they failed to maximise on their possession within 5 yards of the try line and Wetherby eventually cleared their lines and settled into the game.

The home team’s first real attack bore fruit with a lovely scrum 15 yards out driven forward and with a shout from the sidelines “why doesn’t the 8 just pick and go?” that’s exactly what Freddie Watson did, and scored. 5-0

The next five minutes were a battle of attrition in the forwards around the half way line. But the strategic mastermind that is Hoather instinctively knew that he would be needed on the wing so left the grunt work for his able team-mates over to the right and waited, patiently, like a leopard from a David Attenborough documentary. And the instincts paid off. With most of the team on the right wing the ball came through the hands of the Peterpan-like Day, only to find Hoather powering on from the halfway line. What occurred next may well go down in Wetherby RUFC folklore. With the pace rarely seen from our wingers, Hoather side stepped not one but three of the opposition and then when faced with their full back who, to be fair looked a bit like one of those baby antelopes that gets left behind by the herd, chose not to pass to Beeson and bowled him over to traverse the whitewash and complete the 50 yard carry.

Yates sealed the extras, 12-0

The third try came from a persistent attack combining both forwards and backs to camp in the Dinnington 22. After 3 penalties the visitors were duly punished, unlike the exact same scenario at Leo’s, and the penalty try was awarded. 19-0

You generally can’t keep a good team down and Dinnington weren’t the sort of characters to roll over, despite imbibing at the Oktoberfest the previous night. They put the pressure on in the Wetherby half and after resolute defencing by Mason and Woodworth, Kaye found a level of rugby maturity not often seen from him and completed a perfect 50:22 which set up another scoring opportunity.

Dinnington were struggling to get out of their half and the habitual tryline botherer, Atherton was mopping up every clearance they attempted, running it back in to the Dinnington half or offloading to his younger and better-looking wingers to make some real ground. One of which led to Little breaking the Dinnington line only to be foiled by their full back. But the canny player that he is, kept the ball alive which enabled Kay to dink a chip through that was flicked on to Dixon and then back to Little who scored. The first half dwindled to a bad tempered close with Wetherby losing Watson to a yellow but leading 24-0.

A quick 5 minute break and Dinnington were kicking off the 2nd half with wind behind. The ever-reliable Gibson collected the restart and ran in to contact setting up the narrative for the 2nd half, but Dinnington had a different script. These are hardened Northern 2 warriors and started the 2nd half stronger scoring within 5 minutes and converting to bring the score to 24-7.

From the restart McCleary landed a trademark tackle on a player twice his size and the big 2nd row was side-lined, never to return (well at least not today). And the octopus that is Acland then remembered why he was on the pitch and pilfered the ball repeatedly in the rucks. The tide was turning in Wetherby’s favour again. And if Dinnington needed any more punishment, Tom Goodall entered the fray to replace Gibbo, immediately making an impact.

Dinnington were tiring and Wetherby built up some real, punishing, momentum in the rolling mauls which led to an easy score for Watson, but was sadly fumbled. Wetherby went back to the penalty and he fortunately made amends by completing the try without infringement!

Woodworth returned to the pitch and Hoather took a much deserved rest, swapping positions with Kitching. No match report would be complete without due credit being given to the sterling work by Carson and his waterbottles – your efforts do not go un-noticed.

Wetherby remain camped in the Dinnington half and after an attempted clearance that landed in Atherton’s more than capable hands, he recognised the superior athleticism of his fellow back and off loaded to Beeson who ran at pace in to the Dinnington 22 to set up the next try, finished ably by Woodworth.

Young Youlden then joined the melee and brought a calmness and maturity belying his years. Orchestrating the backs he created depth in attack and took up great positions in defence. Wetherby seemed to be getting stronger with their substitutes.

With Acland binned for what his Dad confirmed was a deserved late tackle, you could be forgiven for thinking that Dinnington might get on the front foot but there was only one foot that the home supporters were looking at (well two actually), those of Harry Kay. With a magicians sidestep to evade the tiring Dinnington defence he strolled over from 15 yards out for the 8th try, the whistle and a final score of 48-7.

Man of the match justifiably went to Bradley Mason
Team: Woodworth, Hoather, Mason (arguably the best front row in the league), Acland, Gibson, Blakey, McCleary, Watson (a lovely mix of youth and experience), Dixon, Kaye, Beeson, Day and Little (boyband material). Super subs: Kitching, Goodall, Youlden