Dalesmen hit top form

What had seemed in prospect a tight encounter against a team with an identical record - and one who last year performed the double at the Greens' expense - turned out long before the final whistle to be a rout.

Fifty points, eight purposefully constructed and clinically executed tries, a near faultless kicking display in windy conditions and a complete and devastating domination in virtually every phase of the game were all facets of a superb display.

It was one of those games where you are left with little idea of how good or bad the opposition were, so complete was the command and authority of the home side's play. It was the most fully competitive display for a couple of seasons in the view of the Greens' usually phlegmatic Director of Rugby, Michael Harrison.

In a way this win reflected a thumpingly emphatic pay-off for the sterling performance at Sedgley Park. It is the mark of a good side to be able to benefit from a defeat and as a double bonus, having softened up Park last week, the league leaders duly crashed to Bracknell and surrendered their unbeaten record.

Once again it was the rampaging play of the Wharfedale forwards who provided the platform for success. They were quicker to the ball, secure at the line out and in irrepressible form on the drive.

But the key destructive weapon in their armoury was their tight and forceful deployment of the rolling maul, firmly constructed around Ben Wade and tightly supported by Tony Jackson, Hedley Verity and in many ways the outstanding forward on the day, Neil Dickinson.

The burly Timble terror, beside his ferocious foraging strength, possesses a fine pair of cricketing hands, intelligent positional anticipation and a burst of explosive pace.

Behind them David Pears was once again the master operator, displaying both a varied tactical sense in orchestrating the back line and barely diminished power on the break.

But while last week his individual attacking play went unrewarded, this time the supporting three-quarter play made full capital of his gain-line breeches and Stourbridge, never the tightest of defenders, were unable to seal the gaps once they were exposed.

Equally important was the capacity of the Greens to exact maximum profit from the pressure they exerted.

Forced repeatedly to resort to offside marking to stem the Green tide, Stourbridge repeatedly fell foul of referee Paul Dix's vigilant eye and Wharfedale were rewarded each time with accuracy from the boot of Pears and Jonathan Davies.

Ironically, Stourbridge opened brightly, making light of their injury-riven disruption. Orchestrated by their astute scrum-half and captain Ben Harvey, they mounted strong penetrative breaks by their midfield ball carriers which enabled bustling centre Toby Wilson to touch down for an easy conversion from Harvey.

But the ascendancy was short lived. The Greens' pack were soon in devastating control, forcing a position for the first Pears' penalty, and a minute later a converted try for wingman Pedram Salashouri.

Similar consistent pressure produced a regular dividend throughout the remainder of the half, two further penalties from Pears and one from Davies giving the Greens a 19-7 advantage as half-time approached.

With the advantage of the strong wind to come, Stourbridge may still have reckoned they were in with a shout, but on the stroke of half-time Wharfedale provide the killer blow with scrummage of devastating power which produced a pushover try by Wade.

A moment of such psychological deflation, maximised by a fine conversion from Pear, put the home side clear at 26-7.

Any hope of a Midlands revival with the elements was swiftly dispelled in the third quarter, when Wharfedale, tightening their game even more firmly, first strangled their opponents of possession and then as they tired, claimed four clear-cut tries, three of them under the post allowing Pears comfortable conversions.

First Pears put Davies through, then Hedley Verity exploded off the side of a ruck before Davies added another after good work by Pears and Sam Cottrell.

Stourbridge had a Harvey penalty on 63 minutes, but it was the first and only such opportunity Wharfedale allowed their visitors ate their early success.

The scoring was completed when replacement Adam Oldfield and centre Andy Baggett combined for Andy Hodgson to score and Davies to convert.