After a well deserved week off to watch the start of the six nations, seeing only one of the home nations still in with a shot at a grand slam, the Wetherby squad welcomed struggling Aireborough to Grange Park. The return fixture was a closer encounter than Wetherby bargained for and word on the grapevine was that Aireborough had this game in the bag.
Wetherby saw the return of Jack Kaye but, as you're about to read, he'd have been better off carrying on his chase for Norwegian girls than chasing tries. Maybe better match prep would have been frantically swiping on tinder five minutes before kick off like his brother Harry Kaye.
Aireborough had much of the early possession as Wetherby struggled to hold on to what little ball they did have. Fifteen minutes of sustained Aireborough pressure couldn't get past the Wetherby defence however. James Greenwood set the tone in defence with his industry against his old club. He was joined by brothers of destruction Kane and the Undertaker (George Gilbert and Will Cayton) who as always relish the tough stuff.
Wetherby rode the early storm and fought for field position with some good exit strategies despite Nick Oates' passing being hindered by his cataracts. A crossfield kick fell neatly to Jack Kaye, only for him to cough it up at the sight of his opposite number. Shortly after this Wetherby created an overlap to set Jack Kaye free again, but for the second time 'Kayeman' was outshone by his opposite number who tracked him down and bundled him into touch. Fortunately for Wetherby they had one winger who could use an overlap, and turnover ball gave space to Will Jefferson for him to pin back his ears and dot down for the opening try. 7-0.
Wetherby didn't have to wait too long for their second try as more pressure in the Aireborough half resulted in more turnover ball. Having warmed his hands up on tinder Harry Kaye swooped and crossed for the second try. 14-0.
With all the momentum going the home sides way they pushed for a third try. The Aireborough pack were vocal in their disdain for Wetherby's ability, with particular note going to their spectator wearing the 4 shirt who turned out to be all fur coat and no knickers in the rugby department. Fortunately our own messiah Conor Sheridan had the skill to back up his considerable ego! A nice line break saw Conor with a 2-on-1. Would he pass, wouldn't he? Don't be stupid, of course he didn't pass! 21-0.
The pace and intensity was starting to reach the level expected by the grange park crowd and once again Jack Kaye was set free down the left. With clear grass in front of him and the wind blowing through his Donald Trump style haircut, surely nothing could stop him! Wrong. Jack looked like he was running on a treadmill as his opposite number chased him down again and bundled him into touch! Half time: Wetherby 21-0 Aireborough.
The second half started where the first had left off with more Wetherby pressure. Good hands in broken play by the backs left an overlap for Jack Kaye to run in. Again he fluffed his lines by tripping over his ever increasing bottom lip to drop the ball over the line!
Wetherby continued to surge forward though and strong runs from Elliott Lloyd Kinsey Griffiths and Mattie Chappel put Wetherby on the front foot. When Aireborough did get the ball the defence worked well and a big Will Jefferson hit spilt the ball into the waiting arms of Myles Oates to secure the Wetherby bonus point. 26-0.
Aireborough responded well as Wetherby allowed them back into the game with a string of cheap penalties. Wetherby looked to have a maul under control as Tom Bottomley disrupted the visitor's line-out despite being shot by a sniper in the warm up. Miraculous recovery.
Aireborough continued to put pressure on and were awarded a penalty try at the maul. 26-7.
Wetherby upped the tempo following the conceded try and worked some space down the right hand side for Will Jefferson to grab his second try of the day with another neat finish. See what he can do when he doesn't just run straight into touch? 33-7.
As the game approached the final ten minutes the play became loose and the game started to gain a bit of extra spice. Replacements Matt Bartle and Billy Cale both made their presence felt before stand in captain Rob Adair once again showed that he's a loose cannon with a brutal hit that wasn't him a yellow card. If that was forgivable, his excuse for staying in on Saturday night definitely wasn't! The basic gist of the message was, "I'm not coming out because my mummy and girlfriend scare me". Draw your own conclusions!
With the game drawing to a close there was just time for one more bit of Wetherby class. Myleypoo picked the ball up with his back to the try line and slipped through weak tackles to score his second of the day. Sounds like a cool guy right? Not quite, him and his girlfriend have matching rugby boots! Lame. 40-7.
MoM: Rob Adair - some kind of sick joke. He even wore the wrong club shirt afterwards! The Danny Warden effect is catching...
DoD: Jack Kaye - I've not seen anyone fall off the rails this badly since Britney Spears in 2007