Pre-season friendly: Wharfedale 5 Hull Ionians 26

ON A wet and windy afternoon, a good crowd saw Dale take on National Division One visitors Hull Ionians.

Both teams had large squads and both sets of coaches had the chance to look at a variety of players, although an entertaining game was spoilt a little by handling errors from both sets of players.

Hull, who were the more consistent side and scored four tries to one, kicked off with the slope and blustery wind in their favour.

Strong running in the centre allowed them to open the scoring, with Lewis Minikin bursting through for Chris Lound to convert, and the I's extended their lead when a good move on the right allowed Steve Slingsby to squeeze over in the corner.

Soon after this, a tackle from Wharfedale's Josh Prell led to turnover ball, and Mike Bradshaw went on a surging run and fed speedster Will Davidson, who ran in from 40 metres.

Dale were back in the game and had their best period as the pack started to gain the upper hand in the tight, which was credit to Ian Larkin, starting his first game at loose-head prop, and Bradshaw.

Dale started pushing back the east Yorkshire club, gaining good possession and also penalties on Hull’s feed.

The clinical finish was lacking from the Greens, however, as opportunities were thwarted by handling errors.

The home side finished the half trailing 12-5 but would have the elements in their favour in the second half.

Both sides made a lot of changes at half-time and during the second half, and the game lost the flow, but there were still attempts by both sides to play open rugby.

Dale had their chances but the merest brush with the touchline was spotted by the assistant referees, although the local aficionados were insistent that the Greens were never out of bounds, robbing Ben Parkinson of two good chances to break free.

Hull were the more consistent team in the last quarter, and their forwards gained the upper hand.

Poor tackling allowed Hull into Dale’s 22, and Minikin went over for his second of the match.

Hull's pack efforts were rewarded with a penalty try, and Lee Miller converted both kicks to give Hull another victory at the Avenue.

Despite the scoreline, Wharfedale gave a good account of themselves and silenced a few critics who were not impressed with the selections.

There were growing nods of approval during the first half as the Green Machine took control, and Dale’s decision making was generally sound, although the wind did make the long ball at the line-out a difficult move to execute.

The two warm-up games have shown that Dale are starting the season with a quality squad, and there will be healthy competition for places for the opening game at home against Preston Grasshoppers on Saturday, September 3.