Aire/Wharfe Cup Semi-final
On a glorious spring evening with the ground bathed in sunshine for the first half of the match before darkness began to take over, the standard of play was very variable. There was much to play for and in the event Wharfedale reacted better to what was at stake and were always in the lead. This was not to say that either side played to their best, but the enormity of the occasion for some of these players caused more errors than usual. Discipline was also a problem and made the job of the referee very difficult, but he responded well.
The Greens kicked off straight into touch, but from the resultant scrum Will Bell kicked to 22 yards only for the throw to the line out not to be straight, one of the away side’s greatest weaknesses. The first bit of top class play was provided by Cherry who made great inroads, but then a number of handling errors snuffed out any field position gained. When Keighley gained a territorial advantage via the boots of their fly half and full back they lost it through ill discipline. A Burridge burst, the first of many from this impressive player, was stopped by a high tackle and then another high tackle by the home side enabled Howarth to kick the penalty (0-3). This was closely followed by an unconverted try on the right for Cherry after a sweeping move by the Greens’ backs (0-8 after 17 minutes). Wharfedale then won another penalty for a deliberate knock on which was duly kicked by Howarth (0-11). The next bit of quality play came from Joe Altham with a trademark burst.
A series of errors near half way led to a breakaway try under the posts after a quick tap and go by Keighley. This was duly converted(7-11). The half ended with the Greens’ backs showing their class, causing the home side to concede a penalty which was duly kicked by Howarth. The half time whistle came with the Greens leading 7-14, a fair score after a very moderate 40 minutes.
At the resumption Wharfedale’s Joe Jackson was yellow carded. Play ebbed and flowed, but nothing decisive happened until Bell began to kick very effectively for territory. When the line out was close enough 15 metres out, Burridge was unstoppable and he plunged over, giving Howarth an easy conversion (21-7) to complete his very creditable tally of 11 points.
A period of pressure down the left saw the Keighley pack make the line, but the conversion attempt went well wide (21-12). As a fellow supporter said, Benson’s ‘leap like a salmon’ to win a line out was a rare highlight of this second half, followed by decent passing by the visitors’ backs. Much imprecise and loose play by both sides followed as when Keighley kicked a penalty dead and Wharfedale failed to make touch from their’s, but Wharfedale finished in the ascendency. One of many penalties awarded to them ended this far from memorable match.
Keighley's top try scorer Taylor Prell was well contained by our midfield backs (well done particularly to Scott Rogers) and as in the previous cup match v Ilkley our senior players stepped up and made a huge difference, giving confidence to those less experienced.
We thank Keighley for their hospitality. As one of the many visiting supporters we
appreciated the warm welcome which we received.
The final will be at home on Wednesday 7 May against Yarnbury. The kick off time is still to be agreed.
The match photographs are available under the Gallery tab near the top of this page and also by clicking on https://www.flickr.com/photos/128183691@N04/sets/72177720325745948/
John Clark