National

Division One

Bracknell 8 Wharfedale 17

(Half-time 0-10)

his deserved triumph in a tough and demanding fixture which inflicted on Bracknell only their second home defeat so far this season leaves Wharfedale's promotion hopes intact for a final assault over the last six inviting league games, writes Gordon Thomas.

And Wharfedale's recent run of 10 consecutive victories has led to a partial rewriting of the club's league record book. Hedley Verity now heads the list for the most consecutive league appearances with 65, having passed Dennis Wood's mark of 61.

Andy Hodgson has now scored a try in the last six games, one more than the Adam Mounsey record set in 1997.

Mounsey's try against Bracknell took him past the 700-point mark in only 78 league matches and he also raised his tally of points in all 1st XV games to 810. In his career to date he has kicked 98 penalties, putting him three ahead of Alex Howarth.

And the game against Bracknell was Wharfedale's 200th league match.

Not that the opening stages of the encounter presaged the drama that was to come as Wharfedale playing up a considerable slope but with the advantage of a fiercely gusting wind made light of the heavy and sodden underfoot conditions to mount a series of ferocious early attacks.

Wave after wave of repeated close recycling forward drives after a series of commanding clean catches by David Lister at his soaring best stretched the home defence to its desperate limit.

And after seven minutes of such pummelling Bracknell conceded a simple penalty in front of their posts which was coolly accepted by Mounsey in his usual precise, efficient manner.

The Greens continued to mount the sort of pressure throughout the first half familiar to the Avenue faithful in the side's recent after the break home performances. Russ Buckroyd's short chip and chase up the touchline after collecting a typical airborne collision catch and a slick front of the lineout peel produced an exchange of short interpassing between Verity and John Lawn which saw both freed for short unopposed dashes to the line only to be recalled by the referee.

Sustained patient and disciplined recycling of possession also resulted in Hodgson switching direction only for slightly snatched passing among the queuing up back row to bungle an open run-in at the left-hand corner.

The Greens continued to exert pressure through the excellent play of Neil Heseltine whose tactical kicking and shrewd choice of option produced the assured control from the start that he has more often shown in closing down the opposition in the last quarter of games already won.

But despite this the clock ticked on and the points refused to come until the dying moments of the first half when a sequence of changes in running direction pulled the home defence apart for Hodgson to race in just beyond the far post, leaving Mounsey a comfortable conversion.

A belated 10-point interval lead seemed a relatively modest return for the commanding control of possession and territory exerted on Bracknell by the hard-edged marauding of the visiting pack but there was relief that at last there was some cushion on the board.

It was clear from the opening period that the wind factor was the more vital and countered the nominal advantage of the slope, but the quietly confident visiting supporters were hardly ready for the torrid time on the rack the next 40 minutes were to produce.

In a reversal of the Greens' first half dominance the Berkshire side's pack encamped in the top right-hand corner and subjected the Greens' defence to a sustained stamina-sapping 20-minute physical and sometimes brutal assault.

Seven attacking lineouts within as many metres of the tryline with their inevitable resulting driven mauls interspersed with even more short buffalo-charging forward open-field drives within the '22' stretched the defence to the frenzied limit.

But monumental Green determination prevailed. Lister produced crucial lineout steals on the opposition throw, Charlie Vyvyan devastated the Bracknell driven maul and Verity led tackling of heroic proportions all of which restricted the home onslaught to a meagre single try by hooker David Box from a maul following yet another attacking five-yard scrum.

Mounting frustration produced the inevitable flare-up from a Bracknell pack whose cynical use of studs on limbs and hands in the face whenever the ball went to ground had been evident from the start. And the cavalierly reckless No 8 Lamb received a deserved but somewhat overdue yellow card.

But far from the siege being lifted it merely shifted across the Wharfedale '22' to the other corner of the field. It was now the turn of the Green scrummage to show its steel in the crucible of Bracknell fire. With baying touchline home support the home pack scenting victory went for broke. But drawing on reserves stretched to the very limit the determined Greens repulsed the onslaught.

Richard Lancaster's scrummaging resistance against both his opposing prop, Mosses, Bracknell's most impressive player in a powerful forward unit, and flanker Jackson, who indulged in some illegal activity, proved vital and he has never played a better game for Wharfedale.

Forced against instinct to run the ball across the backs Bracknell's only reward for this period of intense pressure was a penalty for offside in front of the sticks. At 10-5 down and with five minutes plus injury time to go they were faced with an awkward decision and elected to take the points from fullback Kenworthy's kick to narrow the lead to a nail-biting two points.

In a sense the tactical naivete of the choice proved fatal. For it allowed Wharfedale to raise the siege by their deep restart in a manner they had been unable to do from their own possession. Minutes of tigerish pressure during the prolonged injury time in front of the home posts presented the Greens with a short side overlap for Mounsey to round his man and score the clinching try.

The Greens' star kicker then proceeded to notch up the conversion to take the visitors the crucial two scores clear at 17-8. Then two more minutes and the welcoming relief of the final whistle came.

It is a measure of the side's progress that at the start of the season while often winning hard-fought back row battles they lacked the cutting edge of crucial scoring support behind, losing games by the narrowest of margins in the process.

Two factors have rectified this limitation - the re-emergence of Hodgson's penetrative running and the metronomic clinical accuracy of Mounsey's kicking which again and again has stretched an initial lead score by three points.

But although they were again the only scorers, on this occasion they were the deadly finish of a truly team performance. The side can now produce scores at the decisive and defining moments that clinch hard-fought victories in games where as in this match little separates the two equally combative and committed sides.

It is this that now marks Wharfedale as a genuinely successful side, a side that is now confident in its ability to win of right, a side that needs to win rather than just wants to win.

Under the ferociously committed leadership of Lawn, whose precise, unerring service to Lister in the lineout was a revelation, and the astutely focused coaching which nullified the surprisingly ponderous and predictable one in one out short passing game at the heart of the Bracknell challenge the team is now ready for greater challenges - whatever the outcome of this season's campaign.

Wharfedale: J Davies; A Mounsey, A Hodgson, D Whitfield, B Whitfield; N Heseltine, G Smith; R Lancaster, J Lawn (c), N Dickinson, D Lister, P Evans, R Buckroyd, H Verity, C Vyvyan; reps (not used) C Ingram, S Allen, D Harrison.

Bracknell: M Kenworthy; C Fellowes, B Nowak, P Hopley, G Spencer; C Russell, C Morley; J Kelly, D Box, G Mosses (G Ansted 73), A Leishman, C Moore, R Parker, D Jackson (c), H Lamb.

Referee: A Pearce, RFU.

It is rapidly becoming a three-horse race at the top of the league with Wharfedale, who have the best defensive record, third. Leaders Otley who appeared to have lost some of their rhythm a couple of furlongs from home are now making thoroughbred progress and they overcame the not inconsiderable hurdle of Rosslyn Park on home ground by 20-11. And second-placed Birmingham Solihull hearing Wharfedale's hooves thundering along behind them just held on to win by a short head at Fylde 18-17.

Wharfedale's next league game is on February 26 at home to Blackheath who perished in the face of another 50-point blitz this time from Newbury. Harrogate's good form continued as they won away at Reading 12-9 and they visit Wharfedale on March 25 for what looks likely to be a crunch match. Tomorrow (Saturday) Wharfedale are away at Kendal who top Jewson Two North.

The Wharfedale team is: J Davies; A Mounsey, D Whitfield, A Hodgson, B Whitfield; N Heseltine, G Smith; R Lancaster, J Lawn (c), N Dickinson, P Evans, D Lister, S Allen, H Verity, P Hargreaves; reps C Eccleston, F Lovatt, A Jackson.

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