THE BEST-laid plans certainly went awry for Wharfedale last Saturday.

They only arrived at Blaydon 15 minutes before the scheduled kick-off of 2pm but started just ten minutes late in their SSE National League One encounter on the way to a 34-27 defeat.

"We set off early to allow ourselves extra time for the roadworks and were due to arrive at 12.15pm but then got caught up in an accident outside the Metro Centre and didn't arrive until 1.45pm," said frustrated Greens coach Jon Feeley.

"There was no room for negotiation from the Blaydon side of things and our late arrival was clearly reflected in our first-half display (they trailed 15-3 at half-time and were 34-15 behind after 64 minutes).

"But if we had played for the whole match like we did in the second half, we would have won and, although I am proud that we picked up two bonus points, the frustrating thing is that we didn't play like that from minute one.

"Maybe two-thirds of the way through the season the penny will drop, and I know we are a young side, but we have to be more adaptable in how we prepare for matches, such as travel disruptions and injuries during the warm-up, and how we adapt to the referee.

"We cannot use things like this as excuses but I have to admit that it was funny when Micky Ward, who has made over 200 appearances for Newcastle Falcons, got sin-binned in the second half.

"We had Jake Armstrong sin binned and it was matter of swapping our props around until we got into a situation where we weren't being penalised, and then a Premiership legend such as Micky was then sin binned!"

Two bonus points seemed a long way off when Wharfedale trailed by 19 points with 16 minutes left but a try by James Doherty and a penalty try, which was converted, left Feeley as an incredibly proud man.

On Saturday, the Greens are at home to Esher (2.00) in their first meeting of the season, despite the fact that the Dalesmen have already played 23 matches. "We did the double over them last season and it would be great to do it again," added Feeley.