Wharfedale 17Rotherham Titans 12

WHARFEDALE rounded off their pre-season with a well-deserved victory in a hard-fought encounter with National One side Rotherham Titans.

Titans kicked off deep and although Dale cleared, the ball did not find touch and was run back hard by No 8 Seb Nagle-Taylor. Quick ball movement from left to right saw full back Tom Allott take the ball at pace and cut through to score out on the right with just over a minute gone. The conversion was missed but this was an ominous start for Dale.

Wharfedale hit back with a neat break by Will Bell, but they should have fallen further behind when Nagle-Taylor seized on a loose pass from Ben Parkinson. Only a superb tackle from Dan Stockdale saved the day.

The remainder of the first half was very tight with Dale having the majority of the territory but, despite plenty of possession, being unable to break through.

As the half drew to a close with Dale’s pack dominant and Titans getting increasingly frustrated, flanker Luis Ball was yellow-carded for a high tackle on George Hedgley.

Within a minute, fly-half Joe Barker was yellow-carded for bringing down a driving maul as the Titans ended the half with 13 men and a slender 5-0 lead.

Despite the two-man handicap, Titans started the second half strongly, keeping the ball tight and making some powerful drives upfield to eat up time until a loose pass brought a scrum and Dale were able to use the numerical advantage to drive the visitors back down the field.

From a five-metre line-out, with Titans back to 14 men, the ball went to Will Lawn at inside centre who made a half-break.

A slick offload to newcomer Will Edwards who was brought down just short but Phil Woodhead fed quick ruck ball to Hedgley who crashed over for a try. The conversion was missed but at 5-5 Dale were back in the game.

With Dale’s pack increasingly on top, Titans lost shape and discipline with Barker penalised for a late tackle on Richard Rhodes and Rikki Stout lucky to escape with just a penalty for a shoulder drive into George Martin’s ribs round the side of a maul.

Edwards put the penalty into the corner, Rhodes took a clean catch at the front of the line-out and the pack drove over the line with flanker Matt Houghton claiming the try which was enthusiastically celebrated by the forwards. Edwards was again off-target with the conversion.

Rotherham raised their game from the restart and with Nagle-Taylor to the fore, attacked hard but poor handling allowed a couple of scoring chances to go begging.

As Dale tried to clear their lines, Edwards’ clearance kick was charged down by Barker who picked up to score under the posts. The conversion by Ellis Abrahams put Titans 12-10 ahead with under 10 minutes to go.

With replacements aplenty on the pitch, and hooker Stockdale and 17-year-old Madison Hunting making up an unlikely back-row, this had been a good workout for Dale but they were not quite finished.

Strong runs by Parkinson and replacement hooker Tom Jackson won a penalty which Rory Macnab drilled into the corner. When Woodhead was dispossessed at the base of a ruck, it looked all over but Titans kicked into touch to give Dale one last chance.

Rhodes took the ball cleanly but the drive was stopped illegally. With time now up, Macnab kicked the penalty into the corner. Stockdale found Rhodes again and this time the pack were not to be denied, with Joe Altham being driven over for the try, superbly converted from the touchline by Macnab for a final score of 17-12.

Wharfedale: Kristian Sharples, Oli Cicognini, Ben Parkinson, Will Edwards, Rian Hamilton, Will Bell, Phil Woodhead, Toms Asejevs, Dan Stockdale, Reece Ward, Richard Rhodes, George Hedgley, Matty Houghton, James Tyson, Callum Lockett. Replacements: Joe Altham, Tom Jackson, George Martin, Madison Hunting, Will Lawn, Rory Macnab