West hands Wyke platform to escape (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

West hands Wyke platform to escape

8:26pm Sunday 19th April 2009 in

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Wyke 30, Moldgreen 4

Wyke secured their berth in Division One of the Pennine League for another season with a sparkling five-try display against bottom side Moldgreen at Towngate.

The Black and Whites overcame a nervous start which saw their hefty pack attempt to flatten the opposition down the middle.

But when they changed tactics and shipped the ball wide, second-row forward Mick Buttrick was unlucky to be bundled into touch in the corner.

They then went on to show their resilience in defence by preventing Moldgreen hooker James Brown touching down at the other end shortly afterwards.

Full back Paul Woodhead collected a high kick to gallop 30 metres downfield and the deadlock was broken when wingman Trevor West, who was a thorn in the side of the visitors all afternoon, collected out wide and weaved across the pitch. He found the gap he was searching for to sprint to the whitewash, although too far out for a successful conversion.

Wyke hooker Ian Watkinson, who was playing a major part by controlling the ruck, picked up from dummy half then ploughed his way to the chalk, leaving stand-off Craig Hillam to add the extras for a deserved 10-0 interval advantage.

The second half exploded into action when substitute forward Steve Richardson tore onto a short pass to gallop over from a tap-and-run and Hillam made sure of full reward from bang in front of the posts.

Rookie Richardson, who had never even touched a rugby ball prior to the start of the current campaign, contributed fully to the home cause with a succession of bone-crunching tackles.

This led directly to the visitors conceding a penalty to the deadly boot of Hillam when they held on in the tackle.

Moldgreen, to their credit, hit back to score a solitary try from loose forward Nick Swift, before the hosts posted the best move of the game.

Woodhead sprinted down the left touchline and timed a precision kick over the full back to see centre Alan Binns win the race to the line.

Hillam added the conversion, together with another penalty following a head-high tackle on the lively West.

The Huddersfield visitors were clearly out on their feet and praying for the final whistle when Woodhead and Binns combined once more in classy fashion for the centre to scamper in for his brace, crowning what was a highly entertaining encounter.