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It’s no happy hunting ground for the Greens
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| Wharfedale's Chris Malherbe who scored against Waterloo but it was a little too late to change the game. |
Waterloo 30 Wharfedale 8
Blundellsands has never been a happy hunting ground for the Greens and so it proved again on Saturday when the confidence of Wharfedale's recent run of impressive away form finally evaporated spectacularly against a dogged, aggressive, predatory side who emerged clear, emphatic winners.
Against a side that had suffered six successive defeats in the league Wharfedale were brought down to earth with a resounding crash. Waterloo belied their recent form with a performance of destructive power and pace on the break that overwhelmed their visitors.
Their three tries were arguably a meagre return for their efforts on the day. But their restriction of Wharfedale to a single inconsequential late consolation try and Baggett to a single penalty opportunity even more clearly demonstrated their overall dominance of a game they commanded from start to finish.
It wasn't a case of Wharfedale not playing that well - there was never a hint of meek surrender - just that the Greens were unable to match the destructive aggression and greater need of the home side sufficiently to gain any foothold in the game leave alone challenge its outcome.
The tone of the game was set in an ominous opening quarter. There was maybe a touch of over-confidence from recent success in the way they attempted to run ball from deep within their 22 or complacency in the way they kicked loosely into the wind against a side supposedly on the slide but the result was that Wharfedale invited pressure on themselves. Attacks were broken down, kicks were returned with interest and the Greens were imprisoned within 20 yards of their line.
Long before Andy Baggett landed a penalty in what was the Greens' only meaningful visit inside the Waterloo 22 - and indeed a rare venture beyond half-way - home fly-half Alex Davies had slotted three neat penalties and converted tries by centre Jason Duffy and scrum-half Pablo Feijoo for a decisive 23-0 lead after only 27 minutes.
Up front Wharfedale were scrapping for parity at the set piece and were never able to command their customary platform at either the line-out or the scrum. And at contact in loose play they were comprehensively outplayed by vigorous and energetic destructive aggressive power of home pack supported by the predatory plundering of the rest of the Waterloo side.
The manner of the early scores was evidence of the pressure Wharfedale were under. They were forced to concede penalties for off-side, handling on the ground and hanging on to the ball before centre Duffy broke through near the line after an infield drive off the side of a maul.
Feijoo's try was even more indicative of the nature of Waterloo 's decisive grip on proceedings. The scrum-half dispossessed Luke Gray in the tackle, re-gathered the ball in a flash and raced forty yards outpacing the defence to score. The moment in a nutshell encapsulated both the home side's consistent ability to turn over Wharfedale possession and the miserable afternoon suffered by the visitors' young fly-half.
Waterloo increased their lead soon after the break when centre Nicola Mazzucato strode through the defence on the back of pick and drive play set up from line-out ball giving Davies a simple conversion and his sixth successful kick out of six.
Wharfedale did manage to stabilise things to an extent after that and even contrived some successful passages of play leading to promising scoring positions. They never truly threatened to capitalise on what have been in recent weeks productive situations.
Their failure in particular to gain any scoring mileage from a succession of line-out drives in the corner late in the game was one of the more disappointing aspects of their overall performance.
True Wharfedale were lacking a number of influential regulars on the day but they should not have been missed as much as they were. The club has arguably greater effective strength in depth at the moment than for some considerable time. Though both Clements and Muckalt in particular played with characteristic physical determination they both patently lacked the sustained challenge that only full match fitness can provide. The front five were engaged in the primary set piece battles to an extent that precluded the usual effective impact of the likes of Horner and Steel in loose play.
It was more a case of the side lacking the edge of cohesion of its regular personnel on a day when they were forced on the defensive by opposition determined on offensive aggression as their principal weapon.
The backs were largely as a result on the back foot but their failure to take some of the pressure off Gray made things harder for themselves. And it was only when Mark Bedworth's long kicking in the second-half added stabilising steadiness and some direction to their play that Wharfedale looked in belated contention. But by then the game had long been wrested from their grasp.
They did have the final say with a well-worked try on the blind side when Doherty put Malherbe into space at the corner from a scrum near the line but this was both far too little far too late and a meagre scoring return on promising situations they eventually created near the end. As they no doubt licked their wounds, the news of Henley's defeat at Southend may have provided some solace. Barring an almost inconceivable series of results in the remaining matches their National Two status is preserved for another season. The defeat however does mean that the three sides immediately above them in the table - Redruth, Blaydon and Waterloo themselves - all made a little ground at Wharfedale's expense.
But with all these sides still locked within a single win of each other and the Greens with a game in hand and four of their remaining five fixtures at the Avenue, Wharfedale will look to a strong finish to the season.
WATERLOO: J Lowden; N Kerfoot, N Mazzucato, J Duffy, S Dodd; A Davies, P Feijoo; R O'Donnell, M Jones, J Jones; J Nugent, A Davidson; A Shaw, D Hall, D York.
WHARFEDALE: A Whaites; C Malherbe, M Bedworth, A Baggett (Capt), S Horsfall; L Gray, J Doherty; T Horner, G Hindle, C Steel (B Fear 51); A Lister, A Capstick; D Clements (R Lednor 65), S Stitcher, D Muckalt.
REFEREE: Paul Knowles (RFU)
1:21pm Thursday 20th March 2008
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