South Leicester 27 Wharfedale 16

WHARFEDALE raced into an early lead away to South Leicester in National League Division Two North but they could not maintain that bright start, slipping to a disappointing 27-16 defeat.

Dale were 8-0 in front after six minutes. Oliver Cicognini crossed the whitewash for an unconverted try before Tom Davidson confidently slotted home a penalty.

More pressure from the away side led to nothing but then South Leicester woke up and scored two tries from distance, after good handling and support play. Corey Venus and Matt Cooke went over, with Rickie Aley converting both.

Davidson knocked over a penalty to keep Dale close but the first half finished with another converted try for South Leicester by Myles Bean, which gave the home side a 10 point lead at the break.

Aley opened the second half with a penalty but good pressure from the Wharfedale forwards led to a try from Tom Asejevs, which Davidson converted.

Aley rounded off the scoring with another difficult penalty though to leave the gap at 11 points.

The South Leicester pack took the honours on the day and won the battle in both tight and loose play. Their backs then added the gloss with some fine tries.

Wharfedale looked good at times but will be kicking themselves after failing to capitalise on strong field position when they should have scored.

The defeat leaves Dale third from bottom with only eight wins from 27 games.