Hull Ionians 31 Wharfedale 10

WITH a brisk breeze blowing from across the Humber it was Wharfedale who edged the first half.

With greater resources Ionians turned out two separate XVs and as Dale tired the home team had the better of the second half.

As with the game against Kirkby Lonsdale there was a lot of pluses for Dale and head coach, James Doherty, was pleased with the work rate and skill levels shown by his side.

One of the major positives was the scrum. Only as the second half wore on did Hull get on the front foot.

In the first 40 minutes they were in retreat as Dale proved to have superior technique despite looking the lighter unit.

Ionians rarely mounted a concerted attack in the first half and it was only a brief moment of poor tackling from the visitors that allowed them to cross Dale’s line.

The rest of the first half was dominated by Dale and two tries from Harry Dunne and Josh Burridge were scant reward for their efforts.

Hull came out with a new set of players and fresh instructions and scored four tries to win by a clear 21 points.

Youngsters Archie Hancock and Joe Fawcett, who have progressed through the Wharfedale system, came on in the second half and both showed they were not overawed by the opposition and made significant contributions.

Ben Blackwell, Kieran Ward and Kieran Frost also had debuts for the Greens and all did more than enough to justify their place in the squad.

The back row trio were a joy to watch with regular face Josh Burridge being joined by Jack Barnard and James Tyson.

It was sometimes not clear who had made the tackle and who forced the turn over as the three worked really well together.

It was good to see Barnard back in a green shirt and Tyson having a good workout on the pitch after a long lay off.

Sam Gaudie, Jordan Annett, Oli Cicognini, Harry Dunne, Joel Gill, Ralph Wellock, Louis Brown, Oli Cicognini, Harry Dunne, Joel Gill, Ralph Wellock, Jordan Annett, Sam Gaudie, Joe Altham, Dan Stockdale, Reece Ward, Jim Mason, Kieran Frost, Jack Barnard, James Tyson, Josh Burridge. Replacements: Toms Asejevs, George Altham, Jimmy Meehan, Chris Swainson, Jake Parkinson, Joe Fawcett, Will Lawn, Ben Parkinson, Ben Blackwell, Archie Hancock.