Wetherby pipped at the post by Crossleyans

After a disheartening defeat in the cup last week, the die-hard Wetherby fans did what all die-hard fans do when their team is knocked out of the cup and made up some rubbish about ‘not wanting a cup run’ and it being ‘better to focus on the league’. So focus on the league it was, as the visitors Old Crossleyans brought a bus suited to their status at the top end of the table. Fortunately the snow held off, and the Grange Park faithful were about to be treated to a cracker of a game.

Unfortunately Wetherby started as Wetherby do, with a fumble from the kick-off receipt, although as the game went on this looked to be an area of much improvement from recent weeks. After a fairly clumsy kicking battle Wetherby were the first to make a mistake, knocking on inside the 22. The Cross danger man was their much talked about number 8, and as Wetherby bit on him off the back of a scrum, he fed the winger for the first try of the game with five minutes gone. 0-7.

Despite Cross having a particularly mobile pack, with some strong ball carriers Wetherby started to grow in confidence as the game went on. There are certain strengths that Wetherby will always be able to rely on, and despite Bradley Mason dropping out so that he can claim insurance fraud for whiplash, Scott Wallis and Matt Harrison literally folded the Cross pack, forcing a change in their front row. We wish him all the best for a nasty looking knee injury.

As Wetherby got into the opposition half, their big ball carriers came into the game. Rob Adair burst through the line and made good yards, breaking into the final third of the pitch. With Wetherby on the front foot, Jack Kaye scored a carbon copy of Crossleyan’s try from the base of our scrum. Jack and Chris Atkinson were in a straight shoot out for the right wingers shirt this week but weren’t able to fight it out at training as they both had to work late. Strangely enough, both of their jobs must involve drinking watered down vodka lemonades in Leeds like a pair of teenage girls. Anyway, the conversion was missed. 5-5.

The first half was quickly becoming a breathless affair as both teams were looking to play positive rugby at a good pace. As the half wore on it was Cross that found themselves on the front foot, being directed well by their fly-half, with willing runners often found in his number 8 and second rows. As Wetherby tried to keep Cross at bay, they conceded an infringement at the breakdown. I’m not sure who it was but it’s always safe in these situations to assume it was Mattie Chappell so we will run with that. Cross made use of the advantage with a perfectly weighted cross-field kick to put the visitors in for a superb second try. 10-7.

Wetherby responded well and were again treated to some strong running. The ever industrious George Gilbert was probing like the red hot fire poker he was waving around on Saturday night, as he enjoyed a strong game in his last outing before going travelling. It was Steve Hoather who made the big yards just before half-time however as he burst through the line, coming just short of scoring a try. Two very cynical infringements right on the Cross line could have delivered two sin-binnings, but the referee deemed one card to be sufficient punishment. Wetherby pushed over from the resulting scrum however as James Gibson dotted down at the back of the scrum.

Half-Time: Wetherby 12-10 Old Crossleyans

The half-time team talk was full of hope as Wetherby had played one of their best halves of rugby of the season against an organised team. The second-half was a more direct game as the match became a real hammer and tong battle between two teams knocking lumps out of each other. Harry Kaye and Rob Adair both put in massive dump tackles early in the second period. If Harry could have put those skills into action on Saturday evening as he ventured into York, perhaps he wouldn’t be wearing a chisel tooth for the rest of the weekend. Think of Harry Kaye as the Scrappy Doo to his dopey brother Jack, who better resembles Scooby Doo.

After Cross finally earned their selves a penalty to retake the lead, Wetherby looked to return again. Jonny Day combined a huge defensive display with a constant creeping display around the breakdown. Jonny’s slithering around continued deep into Sunday morning as he found himself in a situation that only Jonny Day could find himself in. It was another snipe from Jonny that put Wetherby on the front foot. The ball was shipped wide well and Andrew Trotman finished brilliantly in the corner to swing the see-saw game back the home team’s way. 17-13.

With twenty minutes left in the game there was always going to be a couple of further twists in the tale. Wetherby were made to work hard in defence by a Cross team whose ball retention was the best of any side Wetherby have come across this year. After phase after phase of resilient Wetherby defence led by AJ Hills and Rhys Thomson, Cross finally found themselves with an overlap. A strong run by the visitors’ powerful second row saw the game close up into a one-point ball game as the conversion sailed wide. 17-18.

Wetherby pushed for another opportunity, and as Cross tried to play out of their own half they killed the ball to give Wetherby a shot at goal right in front. Danny Warden, who had marshalled his team around the field admirably all day, converted the penalty and gave Wetherby the lead with six minutes to go. This high-point in Danny’s day could only be pipped by finding himself stood next to the only person in Yorkshire with a bigger nose than him on Saturday night. I know what you’re thinking, that must have been a bloody big room! 20-18.

With five minutes left on the clock, Wetherby regained possession from their kick-off and ventured into the Cross half. With Myles Oates’ head already on thoughts of his mysterious trip to Blackpool, it was left to his winger Andrew Trotman to try and create something. His attempted kick and chase was halted by a no arms tackle, which preceded one of the most pertinent bits of theatre you’ll see all year. Like our very own Yoann Huget. Wetherby put the penalty into touch but were harshly adjudged not to have thrown straight at the line-out.

With the ball in their hands, Cross looked to play from their own line and pushed the fringes of the Wetherby defence. In full credit to the home side’s defence, they weren’t missing tackles, but Cross continued with their accurate attack. After 20 phases of high quality rugby, Cross broke into Wetherby’s 22. Finally, the defence buckled and Wetherby succumbed to another heart-breaking loss with time up on the clock. Despite the pain of losing the game in this manner, to go coast-to-coast for 20 phases without error when the clock is dead is a try worthy of winning any game.

Full-Time: Wetherby 20-23 Old Crossleyans

MoM: Jonny Day – The smallest man on the pitch played like a man with Tom Bottomley’s stature. His only fault is carrying that attitude on long after the game is gone!
DoD: Myles Oates – We have put out a missing person’s notice with the police and are currently awaiting their investigation. If anybody sees Myles, please get in touch.