With the threat of Storm Otto around Wetherby greeted West Leeds to Grange Park on a blustery day. Despite Wetherby’s good run of form recently there was a nervous energy around the place and with West Leeds having turned a corner in their own season in recent weeks the reds knew they’d face a tough test.

Wetherby won the toss and chose to play into the wind in the first half. After clearing their lines well from the kick-off, ill-discipline in the West Leeds 22 meant that Wetherby once again had to play out from their own half. Some poor handling in the centres from the back of the scrum allowed the West Leeds winger Elliah Chityo to pounce on the loose ball and run in a breakaway try under the posts. Bryn Perrot kicked the conversion and Wetherby found themselves trailing 0-7.

The reds kept their discipline well in defence, whilst seeing very little of the ball but found themselves getting drawn into an arm wrestle with the physical West Leeds side. After some heavy traffic found a stout Wetherby defence, the West Leeds fly-half found a gap and some nice interplay between Neave and Perrot saw the fly-half go over for West Leeds’ second try, converted by Perrot. 0-14.

Wetherby needed a response from the kick-off and got one almost immediately. A fumbled kick-off receipt gave Wetherby the chance to use their scrum as an attacking weapon. The experienced front row of Evan Woodworth, Steve Hoather and Bradley Mason made light work of the West Leeds pack and forced a series of penalties. Eventually, with a scrum on the five-metre line the Wetherby pack broke through and George Gilbert dotted the ball down to put the home team on the board, Charlie states kicking the conversion. 7-14.

Buoyed by their dominance in the scrums, Wetherby started to use the ball through the hands. Despite some physical defending from West Leeds, a nice bit of handling in the midfield by Jonny Day and Will Jefferson put Will Blakey away for a burst down the left wing. Blakey charged to within ten metres of the line before some nice ball retention saw ever-alert scrum-half Barney Youlden find a charging run from the industrious Henry Acland to crash over for an unconverted try. 12-14.

With Wetherby firmly back in the contest, a poor clearance put the home team under pressure again. Tom Goodall and James Greenwood led the defensive effort inside the Wetherby 22 but an infringement at the ruck allowed West Leeds to extend their lead just before half-time as Perrot stroked the penalty home. 12-17.

Despite being down on the scoreboard at half-time, the mood was jubilant as Wetherby knew they had a strong wind at their backs in the second half. Heavy rain had also started and played into the home team’s hands as they kicked off the second half. West Leeds made a mess of clearing their lines and Rob Adair pounced on the loose ball to crash over the line within 30 seconds of the kick-off to give Wetherby the lead for the first time in the game, with Yates getting the conversion. 19-17.

It wasn’t long before the red and white’s found themselves in West Leeds territory again. After a break down the right hand side, Harry Kaye and Myles Oates marshalled the attack as Wetherby showed some great ball retention as Bradley Mason and Evan Woodworth both dented the West Leeds defence before the ball was flung wide after fifteen phases for Sam Little to finish off the move in the left corner. 24-17.

West Leeds were struggling to get out of their own territory in the face of the wind but had more joy when running the ball back. Despite some wilful carrying from their strong pack and hard running centres, the defence from replacements Louis Cox-Rawnsley, James Ward and Rob Adair certainly left their mark whilst Jonny Day snared the ankles of anyone trying to break on the outside.

With only one score in the game it was vital that Wetherby scored next to give themselves some breathing room. Will Jefferson made good ground with some strong carrying in his first team re-debut following his return from Selby but couldn’t quite find his way over the try-line. After Harry Kaye miscued (grubbed kicked) a drop goal attempt, Charlie Yates went close with a long range penalty.

Having flown in from the US and got a taxi back from London that morning, it was the jet-setting Yates who finally broke through the West Leeds defence as he floated through a gap only he could see before off-loading to Barney Youlden to finish off under the sticks, with Yates adding the extras. 31-17.

With the game all but sewn up it was a game of defence for Wetherby as they worked to close the game out. It came as no surprise to those on the sideline to see the win secured with a Henry Acland turnover as he finished off a man-of-the-match performance with a trademark pilfer at the breakdown as the referee called full-time.

Wetherby 31-17 West Leeds

A fine comeback performance as we go into the last four games. Next week Wetherby host Leo’s at Grange Park in their last home league game of the season before their March tour of East Yorkshire begins.