Report by Ed Williams

A commanding performance saw Wharfedale (at home) win 40-14 against Preston Grasshoppers in the teams' most recent encounter.

Wharfedale captain, George Hedgley, said after the game: "We made a number of changes from the second half against Sheffield last week.

"We addressed critical areas such as giving away penalties and making mistakes.

"We were not perfect but so much better than last week."

Wharfedale opened with strong and direct rugby and were rewarded with two tries in the first ten minutes.

Jake Armstrong muscled over to open the scoring, converted by Robbie Davidson.

Preston had some possession in the opening minutes, but found the Wharfedale defence resolute and could not get past the 10-metre line.

The second try came from a catch and drive 13 metres from the line, with Dan Stockdale touching down and Davidson slotting the extras.

The visitors started to get more meaningful possession and territory and had some time in Wharfedale's 22, though a poor line-out stopped the Hoppers from taking full advantage.

Play stopped for a period due to a medical emergency in the crowd, after which, once play had resumed, the visitors soon won a penalty and pushed the ball to within 10 metres of the line.

The Hoppers put on more pressure and Preston got their first try as Sam Russell squeezed over on the left-hand touch-line.

Greg Smith made the conversion look simple.

Good breaks by Oli Cicognini and Joe Fawcett carried play up to the Preston line, and the play was finished off with another try from Armstrong, with Davidson converting.

Preston scored a second after good fast play allowed Jacob Browne to score wide out left, with Smith landing the conversion to leave the score 21-14 at half-time.

Wharfedale's bonus point try came 6 minutes into the second half.

From a line-out in Preston’s 22, the pack secured a good ball and set off on a good drive, tying in the Preston players.

The ball was then sent down the line to Rian Hamilton who left the defence standing and crossed the whitewash.

There was no conversion but Wharfedale were now on the front foot.

Further tries came from Davidson and Jack Pinder.

Davidson converted both to take the score up to the 40 mark.

Simon Verbickas, Wharfedale head coach, said after the game: "I was very pleased with today; all 20 lads were on the same page."

Special mention must be given to Zeb Heyes.

The 19-year-old came off the bench after 32 minutes for his first match for Wharfedale at this level.

He played magnificently, strong in the line-out and in the tackle.

Armstrong had a strong 40 minutes before getting injured and his two tries were just reward for his efforts.

His replacement, Ben Patchett, also had an outstanding 40 minutes, and hats off to Jack Hirst who came on to replace Sam Dickinson as prop in the first half.

The centre pairing of Cicognini and Josh Prell continued to impress, as did wingers Brad Viner and Hamilton.

Fawcett had another sparkling game and was unlucky not to be on the scoreboard after defence-shattering breaks.

Wharfedale and Preston are now positioned fifth and sixth in the league respectively.

Wharfedale Bullough; Viner, Prell, Cicognini, Hamilton; Davidson, Riddiough (Kaup-Samuels 69); Dickinson (Hirst 22), Stockdale, Armstrong (Patchett 40), Stockton (Heyes 32), Hedgley, Pinder (Weston 69), Fawcett, Beresford (Pinder 71)