Greens enjoy eight try rout (From Craven Herald)

Greens enjoy eight try rout

11:28am Thursday 18th March 2010 in

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Wharfedale 50 Blackheath 17

As richly winners as they were ragged also-rans a week ago, Wharfedale’s eight-try rout of Blackheath owed almost as much to the visitors’ deficiencies as to the Greens’ own at times adventurous and intermittently fluent play.

The club can be a formidable force at their Rectory Field home, as Wharfedale found earlier in the season when they just failed to withstand some terror scrummaging in losing 20-15. But their away form has been patchy and Saturday’s predicted contest between the Wharfedale backs and the Blackheath forwards ended in the former’s favour.

Flanker David Allen claimed the opening score at the back of a solidly trundled maul to give Blackheath the start they wanted.

But for all the disproportionate huff and puff similarly expended by the London pack, they could not make further promising positions near the line pay as Wharfedale’s fierce forward defence – led by Dan Solomi, back at the top of his game – countered the opposition drives.

Once in their stride, the flair and pace of the Wharfedale backs was simply too much for Blackheath.

For the opening quarter of an hour the Greens’ backline were blinkered and blundering in attack, failing to sense wide space, ignoring men in the clear and surrendering the ball tamely when promisingly near the line - looking in fact as they had learned none of the lessons in precision attack handed out by Tynedale the week before.

But once the Greens got over their stuttering start, intelligent kicking by Mark Bedworth, confidence under the high ball in the stiff breeze, and a supply of possession from the contact area provide the platform for the Dale’s ever-increasing superiority.

Their much better use of the conditions and adventurous, creative use of the ball produced four first-half tries which pretty well settled the matter for the home side. Spectacularly good they were too. Luke Gray claimed the first, latching on to a superbly timed and executed precision cross-kick to the left wing which completely exposed the flat and narrow Blackheath defence.

The Wharfedale full-back then became the provider with a slick pass through a yawning gap on the right after Solomi had wrestled single-handed an astounding turn-over under the visitors’ posts for Latu Maka’afi to lollop clear.

Then as half-time approached beautifully quick and accurate line-out ball for once produced a powerful break by James Tincknell, swift support from his fellow centre, a neat, short final pass and Chris Malherbe was over in the corner.

The bonus point arrived just before the interval with prop Mark Chivers providing the final pass out on the left wing for Solomi to scuttle home giving Wharfedale a hefty 25-5 lead.

With Skipper Baldwin again kicking his heels in the sin-bin Blackheath were encouraged to continue in their own not-so-sweet way and picked off a party-piece push-over scrum with No 8 James Catt the scorer.

But once Wharfedale were back at full strength their flair and pace were threatening to overwhelm the London visitors. All four of their second-half tries were beautifully crafted, smoothly timed and clinically executed. Just the sort of high tempo precision this capable, talented and adventurous side should be capable of far more of the time. On the hour Bedworth just beat winger Dixon to the line to collect his clever kick through a congested marrow blind-side on the touch line.

Then Tincknell claimed the best solo score of the afternoon with a trademark powerful break and a sublimely timed graceful weaving outside finish to leave three defenders aghast as well as adrift.

The Greens galloped on happily when Simon Horsfall fastened on to a telling break by fellow winger Ian Dixon and Bedworth succeeded with his fourth conversion.

Blackheath, now 40 points adrift, at last threw off the shackles aided by a welter of substitutions and were rewarded with a flowing try by substitute Martin Olima after a break by fly-half Matt Vaughan.

But even this isolated consolation was trumped by Gavin Hindle’s neat two-on-one final scoring pass in clear ground under the posts to give Malherbe his second try which with Bedworth’s conversion brought up the Greens’ half-century.

This rampaging victory keeps Wharfedale in a commendable fifth spot.

Having exorcised the frustrations of the previous week at the hands of Tynedale, the Greens will be looking to reproduce rich form on Saturday against Sedgley Park.

Wharfedale: L Gray (P Woodhead 67); I Dixon, C Malherbe, T Tincknell, S Horsfall; M Bedworth, S Cottrell; M Chivers, S Graham (G Hindle 62), N Dickinson, O Renton, A Allen (R Brown 62), L Maka’afi (R Rhodes 70), D Solomi, R Baldwin.