Skipton 17 Wensleydale 34

A DRY afternoon with just a gentle westerly breeze greeted the sides at Sandylands but the calm conditions belied a disappointing performance by the Reds.

The visitors kicked off with the breeze behind them and a dropped catch enabled the Wensleydale forwards to set up a rolling maul and secure an early try.

Despite the restart not going 10 yards, Skipton settled down and strong runs by Jon Currie and Liam Jordan put Hamish Munro away on the wing where he was unlucky not to cross for Skipton’s first points.

Skipton’s cause was not helped when ten minutes into the game centre Matty Langstaff was yellow-carded for lifting in the tackle and Wensleydale pressed home their advantage with a converted try from a well-worked backs move.

Good forward work by Luke Stockton secured turnover ball for the home side and put the back line away, with wing forward Charlie Brown going over from a ruck.

However, from the first backs move after the restart, Langstaff received a red card for a repeat offence.

The second period saw the welcome return of Jonny Gane into the second row but the Skipton pack were immediately under pressure. Dale opted for the scrum from a penalty five yards out and ran in a further try. From the restart, open running by the visitors led to a field-length try to stretch their lead to 22-5.

It was then Wensleydale’s turn to receive a yellow card, with their loose head prop being sent to the sin-bin for repeated infringements.

A good run by Stockton then put Munro away for a converted try to reduce Skipton’s deficit but the comeback was short-lived. Wensleydale replied with a scrum against the head and went over to increase their lead to 27-12.

A good passage of play put Callum Patrick over for Skipton’s third try but Dale completed the scoring with a late try.

Skipton played with spirit and displayed periods of open rugby but there is plenty to work on if they are to get their league campaign back on track.