Wharfedale pass Reading teat

(Half-time 19-0)

Wharfedale were given a stiff test by a competitive Reading outfit but passed with flying colours to maintain their impressive home record of only one defeat in their last 16 games at The Avenue, writes Keith Lewis.

For 50 minutes this was probably the Greens' best performance of the season as their formidable forwards held the initiative and a much more enterprising back display brought the first try for a Wharfedale winger since Easter Saturday.

The Dalesmen were well in control at 22-0 midway through the second half when Reading took advantage of two lapses of concentration to bring a touch of respectability to the scoreline. That renowned champion of British beef and life-long Wharfedale supporter Michael Spensley didn't have a frog in his throat after the game and was not far short of the mark when he described the current Greens' pack as "the best the club has ever had."

The "awesome eight" almost pick themselves these days but with the ever-present challenge of young men like Craig Ingram, Tony Jackson, Sam Allen, John Hartley, Phil Hargreaves and newcomer Antony Capstick there is no room for complacency. The future in that department does look distinctly rosy, nay green, but as 1st XV coach Peter Hartley is quick to point out the pack does sometimes tend to smoulder rather than actually burst into flames. "Keeping the fire burning for 80 minutes is something we've yet to achieve this season", said the former club captain. "It's something you won't find in a coaching manual but in this game it would have made the difference between the comfortable win we achieved and the 40-point annihilation which looked possible at one stage."

Perhaps the solution lies partly on the terraces. Saturday's attendance of around 400 was disappointing even allowing for the dubious distraction of Wales v Australia on the box. At the same time last season crowds of double that size were regularly raising the roof of the scratching shed to "stoke the fire" of the Green Machine.

Behind the scrum there were clear signs of better things to come as Andy Hodgson continued to bring authority and a sharper edge to the midfield and the positive attacking qualities of Jonathan Davies were best seen in his preferred position of fullback. As in the pack there is still keen competition for most places but Daniel Harrison was quick to re-assert himself as the club's first choice scrum-half and decision-maker after missing four games through work commitments. His partnership with, no relation, Johnny Harrison was the third half-back pairing in eight games and clearly has the potential to develop further.

The former Yorkshire Colts fly- half returned to the side after being unavailable the previous week, as did flanker Hedley Verity, and it was good to see club captain John Lawn fit and in the line-up again after cracking a cheekbone in the first game of the season.

Such has been the scale of the exodus at Reading that the visitors started with only four of the side from the corresponding fixture last season - props Simon Stevenson and Andy Grierson, back row Graham Sparks and threequarter Richard Ballard. Former coach Mike Tewkesbury took several players with him to promoted Henley Hawks in the close season and those left behind are reputedly paid no match fees although they do have the use of sponsored cars.

Wharfedale opened brightly in their change strip of cherry and white hoops with Davies quickly into the action and "Lomu" Lancaster spotted hovering for a scoring pass out on the left wing! The Dalesmen took the lead after 10 minutes when a superb lineout take by Paul Evans was driven infield by fellow lock David Lister and Yorkshire flanker Hedley Verity crashed through by the posts. Davies converted and the Greens increased their momentum to such an extent that Reading were forced to concede a succession of penalties in midfield which Russ Buckroyd adeptly converted into attacking lineouts in the visitors' '22'.

With the home pack clearly in the ascendancy visiting captain Mark Vatcher was yellow-carded for dangerously upending Lister when the Wharfedale lineout specialist was in mid-air. The resulting penalty took play to the corner where Lister produced the goods again before Dan Harrison ferreted his way over for his second try of the season. Davies converted to make it 14-0 and minutes later the Crossley Heath schoolmaster was unlucky to see his 45-metre effort rattle a post after the Reading back row had been penalised for breaking too early from a scrum.

A measure of Wharfedale's superiority in this spell was the number of turn-overs they achieved as Johnny Harrison, David Whitfield and Hodgson pulled the shutters down in the centre, Heseltine and Craig Eccleston secured the flanks and Verity, Buckroyd and the Cornish crusher Charlie Vyvyan enjoyed a little light pillaging. Prop Neil Dickinson also had his most effective game of the season in the loose, using his upper body strength to great advantage whenever he got his hands on the ball. Verity and Dan Harrison both went close before the seemingly inevitable third try followed. At the end of a five-phase move Buckroyd and Vyvyan combined to send winger Neil Heseltine over in the corner.

Reading survived a blitz at the start of the second half as David Whitfield chipped through and Hodgson caught Reading fullback Ballard in possession. The Greens had no return from the effort they put into five scrums near the Reading line and the nearest they came to breaking through were longer-range attacks inspired by firstly Dan Harrison and the ever-powerful Evans. Davies did make it 22-0 with a penalty after one of his own block-busting runs, but then as the Dalesmen relaxed Reading showed their competitive edge with late tries for lock Vatcher and No 8 Graham Parks, both initiated by lively scrum-half Steve Pearce and converted by winger Mark Richards.

Wharfedale finished well in control again as firstly replacement Ben Whitfield and then Hodgson both rocked opponents with bone-crunching tackles - the sight of which no Dalesman in his right mind would surely have swapped for an armchair view of the action at the Millennium Stadium.

Wharfedale: J Davies; N Heseltine, A Hodgson, D Whitfield (B Whitfield 60), C Eccleston; J Harrison, D Harrison; R Lancaster, (C Ingram 72) J Lawn (capt), N Dickinson, D Lister, P Evans, R Buckroyd, H Verity, C Vyvyan (S Allen 52).

Reading: R Ballard, M Richards, P Boulard, J Warren, N Brooks (R Wyatt 50); A Hurst, S Pearce; S Stevenson (capt), A Harbinson, A Grierson, M Vatcher, R Dow, T Barker, B Martin, G Sparks.

Referee: D Chapman, RFU, Lincolnshire.

Other results were: Birmingham 45 Preston 19, Blackheath 17 Fylde 17, Bracknell 17 Newbury 13, Harrogate 14 Camberley 10, Lydney 21 Otley 26, Nottingham 15 Rosslyn Park 19.

The biggest surprise was perhaps the size of Birmingham's win over 'Hoppers as Otley marched on towards their crunch meeting with Wharfedale at Cross Green on November 27. The rest of the results were all very close. The Greens move up into fifth place with newcomers Bracknell and Preston breathing down their necks.

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