Hull go back to the Humber with 5 points but they only clung on to the lead despite being under siege for the last 10 minutes.
The visitors were given possession after the kick off and were soon camped in Dale’s 22. A series of penalties were followed by a warning and then, after 4 minutes, Ionians opened the scoring with a try by centre, Greg Minikin. Ben Smith added the conversion. Dale struck back within minutes when Ollie Riddiough darted over after good work by the backs and forwards. Archie Haddon’s conversion brought the scores level.
The visitors then had a purple patch and tries from Cameron Burnhill and Tom Winch, with Smith converting the second one, saw them establish a 12-point lead and Dale reduced to 14 men. At this stage it looked ominous for the home side but eventually Dale started to get possession and Haddon kicked 2 penalties to narrow the gap.
The Green Machine were starting to dominate the set piece. The second penalty was from a dominant scrum and then Dale were awarded a penalty try, after another great shove, to take a one-point lead. Nearly all of the play, for a long period, was now in Ionian’s half. The home side finished with a brilliant break by Joe Fawcett which saw him touching down under the posts for a converted try. Fawcett had two-line breaking runs in the lead up to his try. First, he ran the ball out of defence up to half-way and then breaking tackles and running in from Hull’s 10 metre-line.
Ionians regrouped and scored first in the second half with a converted try by Josh Britton. Smith was accurate from the tee for a three-pointer to take Hull back into the lead. Haddon then replied to grab the lead back for Dale. Another Smith penalty took the visitors ahead before Alleyn Holden touched down for an unconverted try to make it 30-37.
A very frustrating afternoon for all involved at the Avenue. A draw would have been a fair outcome with the two mid-table teams both having good periods during the match. The faithful were also frustrated as, in the last few minutes, the decisions looked odd but were completely right. The first was an attacking scrum when Dale were driving forward but Hull were awarded a free kick. Hooker, Dan Stockdale, admitted that the decision was right as he had got his leg trapped. The second was when Brad Viner looked to have scored but play was taken back for a Wharfedale penalty. Dale had lost the advantage as a Wharfedale player had obstructed a would-be tackler.
It was not these incidents which cost Dale the defeat. There were moments when concentration and focus was lost and Hull’s back were quick to take advantage. There was a lot of strong play by the players in Green and, at times, a sense of cohesion as players start to play together more regularly.
Wharfedale: – Holden; Weston, Cherry, Cicognini, Viner; Bell (Kaup-Samuels 75), Riddiough (Morgan 69); Dickinson (Ward 61), Stockdale (Wills 75), Armstrong, Heys, Borrill, Tweedale (Beecroft 51), Fawcett, Hedgley (c)