At the 5th Final of asking, Wharfedale will at last have its name inscribed on the Yorkshire Cup.

The Greens began the game, at the splendid Huddersfield YMCA ground, as favourites against a team that plies its league trade in 3 North – 2 levels below National One. In the end, victory was emphatic enough, but not until well into the second half did the Dalesmen truly get the measure of opponents whose fighting spirit matched perfectly their club name.

Early play went according to the script. Full-back Luke Gray finished off a sweeping move in the 4th minute, Mark Bedworth converting the try. But that was the last contribution Gray could make. He departed, injured in his dive for the line, and 6 minutes later prop Ben Fear joined him on the sidelines.

The reorganised Greens took a while to settle into any sort of rhythm. Tigers full-back Will Durandt slotted a penalty (9 mins), and his side were already giving notice that they were not to be taken lightly.

With Tigers prop Harry Toews and Greens flanker Latu Maka’afi both yellow carded, Dale skipper Rob Baldwin grabbed a try after taking a snap tap penalty, Bedworth converting, to ease North Yorkshire nerves at 14-3.

What perhaps should have been the platform for a Wharfedale push to put the game beyond Tigers instead goaded the Sheffield side into furious retaliation. Two unconverted tries in 3 minutes, spanning half-time, both set up by Durandt’s breaks, and scored by No 8 Brandon Hannon (39) and substitute back Charlie Cone (41) had the game on a knife-edge at 14-13.

However, at last, the Greens began to exert a measure of control. Waves of attacks surged towards the Tigers’ line.

Prop Chris Steel was first to cross (45). Bedworth converted, and added a penalty (53) for 24-13. Flanker Dan Solomi’s converted try (64), following intense pack pressure, effectively sealed the result.

The Tigers rallied for a while, and pushed hard for a consolation score. The Greens repelled the attacks, but at the cost of penalties, and Durandt – his side’s most influential player by some distance – 3 times set up line-outs close to the Greens’ line.

The defence held out, and the Dalesmen ended the match on the attack, Bedworth having the last word (79), finishing off a spectacular inter-passing move with a try in the right corner.

Wharfedale: L Gray (S Horsfall 5); I Dixon, C Malherbe,  J Tincknell, A Hodgson (D Hall 72); M Bedworth, P Woodhead (D Matthews 59); B Fear (N Dickinson 10), S Graham (G Hindle 56), C Steel, O Renton, R Brown (A Allen 59), L Maka’afi, D Solomi, R Baldwin.

Sheffield: W Durandt; Z Holgate, C McKenzie, J Buchanan, S Pratt; T Outram, D Scully; S Bunting, A Thompson, H Toews, R Joel, B Wilkinson, N Pearson, N Sandhu, B Hannon.

Referee: Richard Whelan