Happy new year! The first fixture of 2016 saw Northallerton travel to Grange park. Northallerton are notorious for their travel sickness but gave Wetherby a stern examination at their ground early in the season.

2016 starts with some sad news however and I feel I must write a short piece following the death of Conor Sheridan's talent. Conor's talent was the heart and soul of the club, and his untouchable running lines saw him unlock defences quicker than Tom Bottomley can unlock another man's bedroom window.
Saturday saw a sad day for the club, as poor Conor was lost without his talent - running into traffic, slicing kicks, and generally horrendous decision making!
700 points last season. 700 mistakes on Saturday. RIP Conor's talent.

Saturday's game was billed to be a big test for the Wetherby pack, as Northallerton's forwards are the best drilled forwards in the league. Echoes of both previous encounters between the two teams showed that Northallerton's ball retention and excellent line-out were a real attacking threat. This was shown within the first five minutes as two Wetherby knock-ons led to good territory for the visitors and a line-out 5 metres from the Wetherby line. Northallerton formed their maul well around their hook-nosed captain and pushed over for the first try of the game. 0-7.

The first half proved to be Wetherby's toughest test of the year with the Northallerton fullback pinning Wetherby in their own 22, and the unusual combination of Nick Oates and Harry Kaye in the half backs struggling to clear their lines.
It's been a tough week for Harry, whose blossoming relationship is causing upset for his family, as he pours his love all over social media. This all came to a head on Friday night when Harry lashed out at his brother Jack Kaye, by throwing a glass at him and screaming "leave me and Anna alone!"*
*not all details have been verified.

Northallerton pressed on in the first half and set up rolling maul after rolling maul and were held up twice in the search for their second try. A tactical switch saw Rob Adair come back from injury to try and stem the Northallerton flow. Rob looks more like an ice cube than an iceberg after Christmas over-indulgence and only lasted five minutes before being sin binned.

Wetherby struggled to hold out the Northallerton pack and gave away a second try in similar circumstances to the first. Northallerton pushing over from a five metre line-out. Half-time: Wetherby 0-12 Northallerton.

The second half started the same way as the first with more accurate kicking and a strong kick chase again put Wetherby under pressure. Northallerton again set up a well structured maul and pushed over for their third try. 0-17

With Wetherby three tries down it looked as though the unbeaten record was about to be ended. Wetherby gathered under the posts and amongst the calls to keep working hard, it was mentioned that we needed three tries in 30 minutes!! Hang on, Wetherby do that all the time!

The introduction of Will Cayton into the back row so him combine with George Gilbert to reform Bevis and Butthead and bring physicality to the Wetherby defence. Big defence finally allowed Wetherby to get their hands on the ball and after a sharp move by the backs Will Jefferson cantered over in the corner. 7-17.

Full of the sustenance of the raw spaghetti he served up as munchies at training on Tuesday, Will was hungry for more tries and got on the end of another. Myleypoo picked the ball up with not much on and ran round the tiring Northallerton defence to create a 2-on-1 on the right hand side and put Rodney Trotter in for his second try of the day. 12-17.

It has swiftly become a popular fan theory that Myles Oates was ten times the player when his girlfriend wasn't around, and so it proved to be yesterday. Another man of the match performance in her absence led to some of the old boys putting a £500 bounty on her head.
Myleypoo finished off a cracking backs move with pace and power to put Wetherby back in the game. 19-17.

As relief and disbelief set in amongst the Wetherby supporters, the players set about their search for a fourth try to give them a bonus point. The forwards carried well and the backs suddenly looked potent. Elliot Lloyd Kinsey Griffiths, Steve Hoather and Bradley Mason turned the screw at scrum time and forced penalties. Bradley was celebrating the two year anniversary of meeting his best friend! An Alsatian called Django... Think Jim and Wilson from Friday night dinner and you're not far off.

In the dying moments good hands from the Wetherby forwards on the left set Jack Kaye free on an overlap. He put to one side the mental and physical bruising received the night before from his wildcard brother and raced down the left wing to score. What a hero. Final score: Wetherby 24-17 Northallerton.

MoM: Myles Oates - £500... Dead or alive...
DoD: Rob Adair - his rubbish return from injury was followed by hours of rubbish chat about how much he used to be worth when he was a good player!