Wyke 25, Dalton 6

WYKE ran out worthy winners in their first home game of the Pennine League season as they sent Cumbrian team Dalton packing.

Jordon Payton was named man of the match as his side added to their opening win at Brighouse Rangers to make it two out of two in Division One.

Wyke came out of the blocks fastest, with eagerly-anticipated debutant Lee 'Olly' Birkett leading the pack and Ben Kelly his usual dogged self.

The first few sets were sloppy and saw both teams dropping the slippery ball with little pressure on them.

Yet Wyke's early dominance led to them taking the lead as young winger Calvin Barker left his opposite number behind with some nice footwork to touch down, Ben Proctor adding the extra two points.

The hosts were in again not long after that when a lovely set move on the Dalton line saw second-rower Keiran Helliwell score in the corner, Proctor again adding the conversion.

The game then became a scrappy affair, with both sides turning the ball over cheaply.

Dalton's stand-off peppered the Wyke back three with enormous kicks but James Wain, Barker and Proctor continued to bring the ball back with interest.

The second half started with impressive scrum half Payton slotting over one point to make it three scores in front.

A penalty-ridden period interrupted the flow of the game but lots of goalline pressure from Wyke saw a fine interception from the Dalton stand-off, who ran 80 metres to peg the score back to 13-6.

Wyke suffered a further setback when Kelly was sent from the field for a debatable high tackle, leaving the home side down to 12 men for the last 30 minutes.

Any hopes of a Dalton comeback were stopped fairly quickly when Birkett powered over from a nice passing move and Proctor slotted over the touchline conversion.

Wyke were in again when full back Wain went in at the corner to cap a fine personal performance. Proctor added another superb touchline conversion to maintain his 100 per cent record.

Helliwell thought he was in again when Payton shot through the line to feed him one on one with the full back, only to be brought back for a forward pass.

Wyke coach Warren Pitman said: "In all honesty, we didn't throw anything at them in attack on the edges and our respect for the ball was disappointing. We made up for that in our almost faultless defensive performance.

"Dalton are a good side and to hold them to just an interception try was really pleasing. James Waine and the back three were outstanding."