JAMES Doherty didn’t mince his words after watching a video of Wharfedale’s stunning 53-33 home defeat by Sheffield Tigers.

His side conceded 45 unanswered points as a 33-8 lead became a humiliating National Two North defeat.

“That’s the worst performance without the ball I have ever been involved with,” said the head coach, who missed the game due to school commitments.

“People were telling me we were excellent for the first 50 minutes, but I can tell you the writing was on the wall from the first minute,” he said.

“They were making line breaks right from the start. We simply didn’t tackle and though Jamie Broadley is a seriously good player, we made him look a world beater.

“He won the game single handedly and he has probably never had an easier game in his life.”

Doherty did concede that there were some good elements to Wharfedale’s display: “That is possibly the best and most clinical we have been with ball in hand all season, but we cannot hide the fact we were atrocious without the ball.”

Doherty planned to show the video to his players at training.

He said: “We have got to work harder and smarter to turn things around. I don’t want to blame individuals for what happened as we are in it together.

“Some players might feel embarrassment when they see some of the things we did wrong in the game.

“We are in a mess and it is up to all of us to turn things around.”

Wharfedale are without a game this Saturday which should provide a little time for some of their injuries and battered pride to heal.

Some first-team squad members are expected to feature in Monday night’s Foresters game against Darlington Mowden Park in the Northern Pilot League.

“There will probably be players who have been on the bench for the first team playing to get game time.

“People will have the chance to stake their claims for places in our next game at Sale,” Doherty said.

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