Wetherby keep West Park scoreless

After a good victory against Leo's last week that I was far too hungover to write about, Wetherby travelled to fellow mid table dwellers West Park looking to extend their good record following the Christmas break. A largely unchanged side travelled to the impressive Bramhope facility on a miserable day which was to have a huge impact on the game.

The early stages of the game were marred by the wet weather as both sides struggled to keep hold of the wet ball. In fairness the ball was wetter the Bryn Kitching's trousers after Sean Lally spilled a tray of beers on him only seconds after bragging that he used to serve beer for a living. Thankfully, he decided down a different career path.

The first real chance of the game came after Stephen Hoather made a bullocking run through the midfield. With quick ball, Harry Kaye fizzed a pass across to AJ Hills and fantastic offloads from George Gilbert and Chris Atkinson fed the ball to the warthog Rob Adair. Adair scrambled towards the line with all the vigour he puts in to climbing through his bathroom window after being locked out of his house in the small hours. 0-5.

West Park hit back well, and used an effective kicking game in the wet weather to put pressure on the Wetherby backs. Park hammered away at the red and white defences and found themselves with a huge overlap. With one man to beat they looked certain to score, before Myles Oates luckily caught his deliberate knock on and breaking free. Despite having a forty yard lead on West Parks chasing second row, Myles only just made it to the line unscathed to score just his second try of the season. A paltry return for someone with such a high opinion of themselves, says this humble observer. 0-10.

The game descended into a scrappy affair before half-time, where the Wetherby back row hunted around for turnovers and big hits. Sam Mayhew and Rhys Thomson were instrumental in listening to coach Andy Gair as he ran around screaming "take back control", like the sort of pro-leave, Trump admirer you often find loitering outside fish and chip shops. AKA Danny Warden.

Half time: West Park 0-10 Wetherby

Wetherby started the second half in the same scrappy manner they finished the first half. Failing to deal with the tactical kicking from West Park effectively was putting the away side under pressure. Jack Kaye and Chris Atkinson both counter attacked well from deep, but the ball kept coming back. Harry Kaye's hamstrings are kept tuned to C sharp and although they make a lovely sound when plucked, they're ineffective when it comes to clearing kicks.

The front row union telepathically took things into their own hands. Mattie Harrison crashed the ball in, allowing the rock Bradley Mason to have a crack at scrum half as he fed the ball back to Hoather for the kick. The kick was majestic, and totally atoned for the one he did last week which we will completely skirt over. The chase was effective and the West Park counter attack was ended by a huge Rob Adair tackle which totally shifted the momentum.

Wetherby were on the front foot again, and after a burst from Rhys Thomson off the back of a scrum the ball was recycled quickly by the spritely Jonny Day, as the backs broke through the line and put Chris Atkinson in to score the game's third unconverted try. 0-15.

The kick-off prompted an ambitious drop goal straight from the restart as Bryn Kitching tried tee-ing off from sixty yards out. Unfortunately for him his giant gingerbread leg missed the gum drop button, but the crowd enjoyed his effort nonetheless. As Wetherby worked their way down field Bryn was backed up well in the scrum by Tom Bottomley as Wetherby got on the front foot again. Harry Kaye crashed over directly from the scrum and Wetherby secured a hugely valuable bonus-point. 0-22.

Wetherby had the wind in their sails and directly from the kick-off captain Danny Warden found just green grass in front of him. Despite his legs going like the clappers, someone still had hold of his lead so he didn't get anywhere fast. As Wetherby pushed for a fifth try, Chris Atkinson again broke the line prompting George to shout, "he's my man of the match!". No sooner had he said this did Chris fling a huge pass into the arms of the Leeds Medics winger on the other pitch.

Despite sustained Wetherby pressure, there was still time for one last West Park charge. Another high ball was watched well by the returning Paul Minns, who was badly disturbed from his lovely day dream by the ball bouncing inconveniently close to him. As West Parks centre grabbed the ball, there was still time for him to doormat Myles Oates before being bundled into touch by covering defence to end the game.

Full time: West Park 0-22 Wetherby

A good win which puts Wetherby into sixth ahead of their trip to Wath-Upon-Dearne next week.

MoM: Chris Atkinson - despite his best efforts to throw it away, he looked a real threat all day with ball in hand.
DoD: Bryn Kitching - like the honey monster with none of the footballing skills.