A scorching Saturday afternoon at Grange Park saw a strong Wetherby side host a struggling Sheffield Medics side at Easter. The weather suited both sides, and after coming close the week before Wetherby were determined to get the victory to push for a top four finish.
Wetherby started strongly by using their power runners to good effect through Tom Edwards and Tom Bottomley. George Gilbert started in a lively fashion after the disappointment of the results of last week's shabby shirt night. With the ball being recycled quickly by Jonny Day, Elliott Griffiths found himself on the wing. He powered over hapless tackles and opened up the scoring. 5-0.
Wetherby continued at a frightening early pace, and the pack were being directed well by the returning Harry Kaye, who muttered directions through the muzzle he is now forced to wear after paddling at referees in weeks gone by. The holes created however, allowed Myles Oates to ghost through for a try in his weekly visit from beneath the thumb. 12-0.
With Wetherby in full swing, the pack started to show dominance against a far lighter Medics pack. With this in mind, in the blistering heat, the Wetherby forwards were directed to go for the scrum at every penalty. Despite resulting in the exhaustion of Bradley Mason, who was clearly struggling under his thickly matted body hair; the end result was a try to George Gilbert. 17-0.
On a hot day, with a hard track to play on, it's always nice to have flair to bring back into the side. Sonny Billy Hoather used this to his advantage, and despite throwing four horrendous off-loads, one finally paid off as he put the gazelle James Gibson under the sticks for Wetherby's bonus point! If he didn't score it, he'd have got the hot sauce treatment!! 22-0.
Any team that plays Wetherby must always be certain of one thing: they only play in patches. This game proved to be no different, as after going four tries ahead, they proceeded to hit self destruct mode. A million fumbles led to a scrappy try for a Medics team who, to the their credit, were not prepared to roll over. 22-7.
With the clock running down to half-time the game descended into a mess of scrums, which showed the quality of the rugby on display on the driest day of the year. This wasn't helped by a rather loose application of the knock-on laws, which this week apparently applied in any direction! Nearly as painful as James Greenwood's Sunday after forgetting his suncream!
After finally being allowed to run a few phases, Jonny Day again marshalled his troops well and was alerted to a gap by pit bull Kaye at fly-half. The ball was whipped wide Beauden Barrett-esque for Andrew Trotman to slide over in the corner before another woeful conversion attempt by Alex Dus.
Half-time: Wetherby 27-7 Sheffield Medics
The start of the second half continued in much the same vein, but with a different pair of generals at the head of the ship; Chris Atkinson and Danny Warden coming into the fray. After more strong carries from Griffiths and Hoather, the ball was shipped wide again to Myleypoo for him to finish in the corner. 34-7.
With Chris Atkinson playing second fiddle to Jonny Day in recent weeks due to question marks over his pass, he had a point to prove. Prove it he did, as he threw the pass of the season to cut out three defenders and give Andrew Trotman a 2 on 1, which he uncharacteristically utilised to put Harry Kaye in for the try. 41-7.
With Sheffield heads dropping, they were badly in need of something to make the trip home worthwhile. Where there's a will, there's a Jack Kaye. With Medics playing from their own 22, Jack came up against a winger half his size and got viciously speed bumped on to his backside. That's what you get when you don't pay your fees Jack. Rough justice.
It wasn't long however before Wetherby were on the front foot again, utilising their powerful scrum to earn the second brace of the game. The Mutley style giggles coming from the back of the scrum meant that George Gilbert must have scored again! 46-7.
As I'm sure is clear by the score increments going up in mainly 5s rather than 7s, Alex Dus was having a horror of a game. Coupled with his drop in the first half, he needed something to keep spirits up. Fortunately Alex is the one person on the team that Myles will pass to for some reason, and he was put in for the game's penultimate try. 51-7.
With the game winding down to a close, the forwards exhausted and Jim burning to a crisp there was time for a try. Unfortunately by this point delirium from heat stroke had set in, so all I can tell you is Andrew Trotman scored his second and Andy Goode missed yet another conversion. 56-7.
MoM: Chris Atkinson - a tough week for the little scamp but that pass was sublime.
DoD: Jack Kaye - it was bad enough when the cretin wouldn't pay his subs, but to be rolled out like a red carpet as well is just embarrassing.