On a seasonally freezing January day with 40mph winds it seemed inevitable that just as the players ran out on to the pitch the heavens opened. The rainbow over the 1st Team pitch belied the difficult conditions and supporters were grateful for the extended stand that provided much needed cover. And with the Coffee Box open, ably manned by Ben, the hot coffee and tea was flowing.

Wetherby kicked off playing right to left into the wind and the forwards mopped up the early pressure. Rish piled on the pressure with big forward carries but were outmatched by Hoather and Cox-Rawnsley in the early phases.

With the wind against Wetherby, they struggle to make any progress out of their own half for nearly 30 minutes and even the trusty boot of Yates failed to relieve the pressure. But the defence at Wetherby has been pretty solid this season and so it proved to be with 2 penalties missed by Rish, Wetherby were the first to put points on the board with a penalty from Yates.

Some huge hits from the back row of George Gilbert, Elliott Reid and Tom Goodall and accompanied by James Greenwood, the Reds kept Old Rish in their own half.

As Rish made there way into the Wetherby half a huge hit by Jack Kaye stopped a certain overlapping try and a wry smile on his face as he left the Rish player in pieces on the ground.

Seemingly powered up by this show of superiority, he then found himself in a scoring position and strolled through for the first try of the game. 8-0

The forwards were slowly breaking down the resolve of Rish and with every scrum that went by, Weth were becoming more and more dominant. And with such dominance, it opened up loads of space for Gilbert to repeatedly pick up from the back of the scrum and make the hard yards. Half time couldn’t come quick enough for Rish.

With the wind supporting Weth in the second half this match had the opportunity really open up for Wetheby.

But it was Rish who had the better of the opening exchanges and after a series of penalties against the Reds, Harry Kaye saw yellow and a 10 minute rest on the bench. Rish were unable to make there man advantage count though and Wetherby slowly began to claw there way back in the game.

Their dominance in the scrums and generally in the forwards soon told, with Acland scoring from short distance. Yates converted to make it 15-0. Surely the floodgates were going to open. Coach Brown opted for some fresh legs and brought on Blakey, poster-boy Adair and Youlden (B) the good looking one.

Unfortunately for Wetherby, with 20 minutes to go, Old Rishworthians had to go to uncontested scrums due to the replacement prop having been subbed off due to a head injury.

There was some confusion in the stands eith many believing Rish had to drop a player and Weth seemed to lose their focus giving Rish an almost immediate try. Without Weth’s benefit of superiority in the scrums, Rish managed to organise themselves and put together some decent phases of play, putting Weth under significant pressure.

But Wetherby were to hold out with some resolute defending (despite being down to 14 man after a yellow card for Charlie Yates) and with a massive, pressure relieving kick from Dixon, the referee seemed relieved to blow the final whistle.

Final score 15-5.