There are days when Wharfedale supporters would swap places with no other sports fan. Saturday’s win against a slick and confident Preston Grasshoppers was such an occasion. Victory with a scintillating display of rugby in the beautiful Dales sunshine would have been enough on its own. But beyond that, there was the sense that the crowd had itself played a vital role. As the team left the field, their appreciation of the raucous support in the stands told a tale: that this was a victory not just for the team, but for the club.
The auspices were good when, for the first time this season, Wharfedale entered the third minute of the game without having conceded a try. Things looked even more positive a minute later when right wing Sam Taylor scored out wide, finishing off breaks by Josh Prell and Simon Borrill. Although Hoppers came back, and took a rolling maul almost up to the Wharfedale line, it was turned over and the pressure was relieved. However eye-catching Dale’s play with the ball was, all afternoon the commitment of their defence was every bit as impressive.
Attacking the river end in the first half, Wharfedale’s own rolling maul soon came into play, with hooker Sid Holden going over in the 14th minute. This time the try was converted, to give the Greens a 12-0 lead. With the ground firm and dry, though, this was always likely to be a high-scoring game, and it came as no surprise when Preston responded through second-row Hugo Castle.
Mid-way through the first half Dale’s twelve-point advantage was restored when a beautiful inside pass by Ollie Cicognini put Sam Taylor in for his second try. The only blot on Wharfedale’s copybook in the first half was the number of penalties conceded. After a warning from the referee, George Hedgley was yellow carded for pulling down a rolling maul. To add insult to injury, Hoppers still scored from the move.
The last scoring act of the half was one of the plays of the game. From a line-out near half-way Dale broke, first through scrum-half Joe Adams, then Sam Taylor and Joe Fawcett. It was Omari Kaup-Samuels who finished a magnificently dynamic move wide on the left wing. Callum Trees converted to send Wharfedale in at the break 26-14.
Despite the advantage on the scoreboard, playing up the slope and into a breeze was never going to make the second half easy. Despite extending their lead to 33-14 when Joe Adams finished off another slick move down the left wing, there was still more than half an hour to play, and Wharfedale knew that the game was far from over.
Sure enough, in a seven minute period Preston showed their class, scoring three converted tries to lead by two points, 33-35. With the final quarter still to come, up the slope and into the breeze, it would have been easy for Wharfedale heads to drop – particularly after their three defeats so far in the season. Instead they took the game straight back to the visitors, and in desperate defence Hoppers’ prop Will Parkinson was sin-binned for a high tackle. Moments later Omari Kaup-Samuels made Dale’s advantage pay with his second try of the afternoon. The Greens further capitalised five minutes later when a rolling maul took replacement Joe Charnley over.
With 12 minutes left on the clock, Dale’s 10-point advantage still felt like no guarantee. But the crowd noise, and sense of belief, grew with each passing minute. The defence held firm, and eventually Joe Adams was able to kick the ball out to cue magnificent celebrations on the field and in the stands.
Although Wharfedale’s new-look front row deserve a special shout-out, across the team as a whole it would be wrong to single out particular players. Instead, perhaps the plaudits need to go to the coaches and staff, not just for quickly establishing cohesion and flair amongst so many unfamiliar faces, but for nurturing a sense of belief. As so often with Wharfedale, it is that sense which runs through the club as a whole, and turns probable defeats into improbable victories.
Simon Ravens
Referee:- Thomas Hurdley
Attendance:- 426
Half time Score: Wharfedale 26 – 14 Preston Grasshoppers
Scorers:-
WHARFEDALE
Tries:- Taylor (2), Holden, Kaup-Samuels (2), Adams, Charnley
Conversions:- Trees (5)
PRESTON GRASSHOPPERS
Tries:- Castle, Richardson, Browne (2), Haigh
Conversions:- Freeman (5)
Wharfedale:-
15 Callum Trees, 14 Sam Taylor, 13 Josh Prell, 12 Oli Cicognini ©, 11 Omari Kaup-Samuels , 9 Joe Adams , 10 Max Bell, 1 Jimmy Meehan, 2 Sid Holden., 3 Reece Ward, 4 Simon Borrill, 5 George Hedgley, 6 Ben Markey, 7 Joe Fawcett, 8 Tom Beresford.
16 Max Green, 17 Joe Charnley, 18 Ed Harrison, 19 Zeb Hayes, 20 Idris Morgan.