Wetherby hosted Yarnbury in their first pool game of the National Senior Vase on Saturday, the week after the visitors had come out on top of their reverse fixture in the league. The red and whites were able to name a host of returning faces to the starting line-up with Bradley Mason, James Carson and George Gilbert all returning in the pack. Rob Adair and Andrew Trotman returned in the backs.

Wetherby kicked the game off and were instantly on the front foot following a Yarnbury error. A strong early carry from skipper Steve Hoather put down a marker for the attack, but the Yarnbury defence remained firm. Wetherby remained patient with ball in hand and worked a slight overlap in the corner and the returning fat cats Rob Adair and Andrew Trotman combined for the latter to dot down for the game’s opening try. 5-0.

Yarnbury looked dangerous in their backline last week on the 4G turf and probed again through the backs when they got ball in hand. The full-back Bateson was causing all sorts of problems for the Wetherby centres Fox and Adair, who looked like they’d been dipping into the Christmas selection boxes a little early this year. It was Bateson’s pace off the back of a scrum that broke through Wetherby’s defence to take the lead. 5-7.

Wetherby were looking dangerous ball in hand and capitalised from another failed exit from a kick-off by Yarnbury. Wave after wave of red and white attackers smashed into the Yarnbury defence, led primarily by James Carson and George Gilbert. Eventually the Yarnbury defence conceded a penalty in front of the sticks and Andrew Trotman, despite his best attempt at missing, secured the three points and put Wetherby in the ascendency. 8-7.

Wetherby secured the exit from their kick-off but were on the back foot again as Yarnbury’s backs exploited every inch of the expansive Grange Park pitch. A charge down the right wing was repelled by the Wetherby defence before the gaps opened on the left-hand side and some weak tackling allowed winger Bell through to score. Margeoffo Brownelsa had seen enough at this point and brutally ignored Mattie Chappell’s neck injury by giving him the shepherd’s hook and bringing on Will Blakey. 8-12.

Yarnbury had their tails up and were probing again before half-time, seemingly finding soft edges in the defensive line at every phase. Finally Wetherby were able to force a penalty at the breakdown on the stroke of half-time and rather than tap the ball and kick to end the half, captain Hoather opted for one more line-out to prove that the hosts were dominant at the set-piece.

Half-Time: Wetherby 8-12 Yarnbury

Wetherby knew the task in hand at the start of the second-half. Whilst the red and white army looked potent in attack, they needed to start imposing themselves better in defence. Unfortunately in an effort to do this they conceded two penalties in the first five minutes of the half, and found themselves with somewhat of a mountain to climb. 8-18.

The one area where Wetherby were having lots of joy was at the set piece, and after four scrum penalties in a row they marched downfield towards the Yarnbury line. Bradley Mason and Will Blakey, AKA ralph and Üter from the Simpsons, made light work of the Yarnbury scrum and were rewarded with a penalty try and Yarnbury were reduced to 14 men. 15-18.

Yarnbury were looking to grab the advantage back but despite Steve Hoather being absolutely smoked from the resulting kick-off, Wetherby were working their way up-field well. The Wetherby attack broke down out wide and another penalty against the hosts gave Yarnbury a chance to kick to the corner. The kick looked to be dropping short but winger Rhys Lacey, styling his Fresh Prince of Collingham haircut, flapped around like a blow up tube man in a parking lot as the ball went straight through him and into touch.

The game was heating up quicker than Myles Oates’ boxer shorts on Saturday night as Yarnbury tried to hammer at the Wetherby line. Wetherby defended valiantly with James Carson and James Greenwood both making telling hits in defence but Wetherby eventually got caught short on numbers in the wider channels and conceded a try to the Yarnbury replacement centre White. 15-23.

There was little option for the home team but to come out fighting for the last ten minutes. Some solid defensive work from the marauding hammer shoulders of George Gilbert forced a penalty which Harry Kaye pumped straight into the corner. A brilliantly worked trick line-out between Danny Warden and Steve Hoather saw the captain bustle in completely untouched to bring the game within one score with five minutes of the game remaining. 20-23.

Wetherby kept the ball in hand and played with pace and direction. Archie Youlden threw his trademark dummies and orchestrated the play and Wetherby earned another chance to get into the Yarnbury 22 as the visitors crept offside in defence. The ball again went into the corner and despite the resulting maul from the line-out hurtling towards the line, it was brought down illegally and Wetherby had a scrum 5 metres out. In huge credit to the Yarnbury pack their scrum, which had been battered all game, held out brilliantly under pressure. This effort in the scrum left them a little bit tight in the resulting phases and James Gibson crashed over under the posts to score the match-winning try and keep National cup hopes alive.

Final Score: Wetherby 27-23 Yarnbury

This game was won by an unbelievable last twenty minutes from the red and whites, in which they barely made a single error. The set piece worked at 100% throughout the game and kept the team alive and kicking. A tremendous game of cup rugby, played by two very committed teams.

MOM: James Gibson – When you score a match winner like that, it can only go one way.
DOD: Steve Hoather – Must read up on the laws of the game before next week to save from further blushes.