Articles by JDriver

A superb display of fast flowing rugby saw Wharfedale travelling back up the M1 with five totally deserved points. We may have snuck the home match in the last minutes but this was a totally different story. Sheffield had a brief spell either side of half time when they managed to score two tries but the rest of the match was dominated by Dale.

Sheffield were guilty of handling errors early on and Dale soon took full advantage. Sheffield had a scrum on their 22 which they won and sent a kick down field. The ball was run back and …

An exciting, enthralling game of rugby was won by a point by Otley at Cross Green. After the non-event the week before at the Avenue it was good to get back to seeing good quality rugby, played at pace and with all players committed to the cause. As one ex-player commented “There was more rugby in the warm up than there was in 80 minutes last week”. Otley may have had the edge in the scrum but the Wharfedale backs were beginning to show what they are capable of. Often the forwards joined in to produce flowing rugby which Otley …

With both sides comfortably safe from relegation in mid-table this should have been a game of free-flowing exciting rugby. It was anything but. Both sides were guilty of far too many handling errors for the match to ever be entertaining. Tigers probably edged the result with the only try of the game. Mark Ireland missed three penalties to give them a cushion.

Tiger’s Director of Rugby, Jamie Broadley, said after the game “I would struggle to say that the best side won as on that performance 0 – 0 would have been a fair result. It was probably the most …

Playing downhill, which for some time now has not appeared to offer any advantage, Wharfedale had no possession for a couple of minutes as Huddersfield swept left to right and back again but, on losing possession, the Greens launched a devastating counter attack from inside their 22.  This was to be a feature of the match with Oscar Canny in particular showing what a dangerous runner he can be. The result of his good work, after Gaudie and Verity had begun it all, was a penalty which Tom Davidson duly converted.  Runs from Burridge and Cicognini followed and a penalty …

League leaders given a scare.

Conditions were perfect for a game of running rugby and what a feast we had. After early skirmishes by both sides, Sedgley won a scrum against the head and after several phases Daniel Maher crashed over for the first try which was converted by Stephen Collins, 7-0.

From a lineout in the 15^th minute the ball was recycled from left to right for Oscar Canny to cross the whitewash for a try which Tom Davidson duly converted, 7-7. In the 18^th minute Matthew Beesley was given a yellow card for a no arm …

Fylde completed a bonus point win at the Avenue despite picking up three yellow cards and a red. They stopped Dale scoring by any means and left the home side with only 2 penalties from Tom Davidson.

Forget the cynicism because at times Fylde played some excellent rugby. Their play was often slick and too fast for the Dale defence to cope with,

Wharfedale started well and pinned Fylde back before turning the ball over and winning a penalty. Davidson opened the scoring in the second minute with a penalty. Dale pressed again from the restart but with a penalty …