A cracking afternoon of entertaining rugby was won by Dale scoring 7 tries to Lymm’s 4. There was some fast open rugby played by both sides with the Wharfedale backs having the edge with slick passing and fast pace.
Lymm opened the scoring with an unconverted try by Patrick Jennings. From the kick-off both sides sent the ball downfield but Lymm’s follow ups were more effective and they regathered the ball in Dale’s half. A kick was then sent forwards which was regathered by the speedy Jennings. Robbie Davidson got Dale on the board with a penalty from in front of the posts. This was the result of excellent pressure from Dale with forwards and backs moving Lymm around the park.
Dale mounted more attacks in Lymm’s 22 before a mistake allowed Lymm to clear. Bradley Viner then scored a sublime try which Davidson converted. Viner took the clearance kick on his own 22 and evaded the chasing players to run the ball up to Lymm’s 22. He had Louis Verity in support who carried the ball forward and then Viner was on hand to take the scoring pass.
A mistake at the restart and a couple of penalties allowed Lymm to get close to Dale’s line but the defence held. Lymm dropped the ball and Alfie Weston swooped on the ball and broke away. He was tackled illegally which saw Jennings earn a yellow card. Weston had however reached opposition territory and the penalty led to an attacking lineout. The ball was secured and simply passed along the threequarters and Josh Prell then went over in the lefthand corner to extend the lead.
Lymm hit back with a penalty before the Dale forwards drove over from a 9-metre lineout with Robbie Collinson touching down. The penalty was needlessly given away by Lymm’s prop, Matthew Hand, who then was lucky to stay on the field after running some distance to shove Rob Baldwin and also guilty of some very foul language. Davidson slotted the extras.
Jennings grabbed a second try for Lymm when he followed up a speculative kick and won the race to the ball again. Sam Wadsworth then breezed through the Dale defence to score and Rowley’s conversion closed the gap to 2 points.
The 1st half finished with Dale camped on the visitor’s line. They came close to scoring a couple of times but little mistakes gave Lymm a scrum. Dale drove them off the ball twice. Dale then opted for the 5-metre lineout. Collinson crashed over for his second to leave the score 27-20 at halftime.
Lymm scored first in the second half when Andrew Rowley touched down; his conversion brought the scores level. The Green Machine then hit top gear. Tries from Omari Kaup-Samuels, Bradley Viner (his second) and Dan Wills, one converted by Verity, took the game away from Lymm.
The first try came from an efficient catch and drive by the pack. When the ball was moved left the passing was exquisite. Delayed passes and off-loads by the two centres, Ben Blackwell and Verity, gave Kaup-Samuels a walk-in. Viner’s was classic back play after the forwards had destroyed Lymm’s scrum.
Lymm then had a good period of possession and territory but they could not score. Dale were reduced to 14 when George Hedgley received a team yellow but Lymm soon lost the ball and Ollie Riddiough cleared the ball into Lymm’s half. Wills touched down after eight phases involving all the Dale team with Baldwin and Riddiough finally setting up the try. Lymm’s Callum Morris was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle.
This was a performance by Wharfedale that was built on the forwards with the backs doing the majority of the scoring. The Dale 8 were magnificent all afternoon. A nigh insuperable performance in both the lineout and the scrum gave Dale a great platform.
Lymm travelled back with one bonus point whilst Dale’s 5 points keeps them in 5th place.
Wharfedale: – Bullough; Viner (Bullock 74), Verity, Blackwell (Viner 78), Prell; Davidson (Kaup-Samuels), Riddiough; Dickinson, Collinson (Wills 58), Armstrong, Heys, Stockton, Hedgley, Weston, Baldwin (Beecroft 73)