WIBSEY celebrated into the early hours after clinching promotion to Yorkshire Division Four.

They beat visitors Thirsk 38-3 at Northfield Road to make it 11 wins out of 11 but then faced an agonising wait for the other key result – Mosborough's visit to Knaresborough.

It was only when the High Street club knew that the second-placed south Yorkshiremen had won 29-19 at the third-placed North Yorkshire club that they could really let their hair down.

"I was waiting in the changing room with Rob Greenwood (first-team coach) and we must have been waiting for 30 minutes," said Wibsey's chairman and secretary Steve Brooke, "and he said 'It is like waiting for your daughter to come back from her first date'.

"But then we found out and we were able to announce it to our three match sponsors – we really must spread them out a bit – upstairs in the bar.

"I always felt that we would get promoted at some stage but it seems many years ago that Dave Grayson – my general manager at work who used to coach us – and I were talking about finishing in mid-table."

Although Wibsey had a 100 per cent record, Thirsk did the right thing by turning up with a full complement.

Brooke added: "They had a big pack and it was close for the first half an hour as Brad Wright missed a third-minute penalty for us before leaving the field with a calf injury, and Thirsk took the lead in the 21st minute with a penalty."

A piece of quick thinking by James Sawyer helped to turn the tide in the 33rd minute.

With Wibsey's attack lined up on one side of the pitch, he switched play to the opposite side to Bryn Worsley, who went over for a try, with Sawyer, who had replaced Wright as goal-kicker, converting.

Luke Wilson's try just before half-time made the interval score 12-3, and Wibsey had a slight wind in their favour in the second half.

Kyle Carter broke from the back of a scrum to cross in the 48th minute, Sawyer converting, and replacement centre Chris Clough made Thirsk pay for having a man sin-binned in the 51st minute by going over four minutes later, Sawyer's making it 26-3.

Man of the match Mark Darragh scored in the 68th minute, with Sawyer again landing the conversion, and teenager Elliott Cullin finished off the scoring just before the final whistle with his first try for the club after good work by Elliott Gray.

Brooke added: "We will win the championship if we get a bonus-point victory at Sheffield Oaks next Saturday, and we finish our league fixtures off with home games against Rossington Hornets and Withernsea."