REPORT BY: ED WILLIAMS

A second half fall away ensured Wharfedale came away with a heavy defeat to their name from Sheffield on Saturday.

The visitors were very competitive in the first half but ultimately dropped their standards in the second half to lose the game 43-20.

The hosts dominated from kick-off and a series of penalties and yellow card saw them camped in Dale’s 22. Rhodri Campbell was driven over from a five-metre lineout to open the scoring with an unconverted try.

The visitors claimed the restart and put together nine efficient phases and Jack Pinder touched down to score. The conversion was missed but the scores were now level.

Both sides put together some strong attacking rugby, but Dale went ahead with a catch and drive of their own with Dan Stockdale being awarded the try. The visitors extended their lead with a successful penalty from Davidson.

Sheffield closed the scoreline to one point with the last move of the first half. They were awarded a penalty under the posts and quick thinking by Callum Posa saw him cross the whitewash under the posts. Elliot Fisher added the extras.

The second half started with Wharfdale giving away too many penalties and being guilty of squandering what meagre possession they had.

This gave Sheffield a big advantage and they took it well. They ran in three tries, with two conversions, to take a healthy 31-20 lead. The try scorers were Alex Reid, Chris Hooper and a second for Campbell.

Dale got back into the match with a penalty which Harry Bullough sent into the home 22. A successful line-out was followed by seven solid phases and Jimmy Meehan crashing over to score. Davidson added the two points to give the travelling faithful some hope of getting something from their trip to South Yorkshire.

The hope seemed justified when Dale had another penalty which was pushed into Sheffield’s 22. A not straight decision gave Sheffield a scrum and a penalty followed. The backs then took over and made room for Hooper to score his second try. No conversion was added but Dale’s only hope of a point was to get a fourth try.

The last move of the game summed up the dire afternoon for the Green Machine. Having weathered another battering in their 22, they escaped and had a lineout on halfway. The ball was thrown over the top into the waiting hands of Sheffield’s replacement, Matthew Adcock, who was was given the freedom of Abbeydale and cantered under the posts. Posa slotted the conversion to round off a miserable day for Dale.

Wharfedale vice-captain, Oliver Cicognini, commented after the match: “Early this season I thought Sheffield would be favourites for promotion; they were building a good squad under good coaching. Apart from the opening five minutes and the last two minutes of the first half, I thought we played some excellent rugby. We kept our attacking shape, retained possession well and limited their opportunities.

“In the second half we were guilty of too many individual errors. They are a fast team and when they got on the front foot, they made us pay.

“When you play a top team, you cannot allow to let your focus slip. We need to look at how we played in the first half and continue to play at full tilt for 80 minutes. The talk amongst the team that this was one of the most enjoyable first halves we have played this season.”