That's entertainment as Wharfedale win thriller (From Craven Herald)

That's entertainment as Wharfedale win thriller

3:16pm Sunday 15th January 2012 in Wharfedale By Bill Marshall

Wharfedale 31, Blackheath 30

Spectators shouldn’t just be walking down The Avenue, they should be sprinting to Wharfedale’s ground if this is the excitement that is on offer every fortnight.

Granted it wasn’t the highest quality contest in terms of defence but it was a tense switchback affair all the same.

The lead changed hands three times and the visitors from London missed a final chance to win it via a penalty from the halfway line. Even then, the Dalesmen had to endure four minutes of added time.

It was the eighth time this season that Wharfedale have been involved in a league match that has finished with a margin of six points or less and they have only played 19 matches.

Wharfedale’s player-coach Tom McGee admitted: “We lost confidence after our 36-17 defeat at Birmingham & Solihull the previous week.

“ We had travelled there in good spirits but Birmingham were the better side and we didn’t come up with a Plan B, so credit to them.

“We concentrated all the week leading up to this game on getting back to where we had been and doing the simple things well and came up with a win.”

McGee, whose team had won six of their seven matches before facing Birmingham, said of the Blackheath match: “We started each half slowly but the more important thing is that we finished each half strongly and we scored some nice tries.

With the frost covers ensuring the game went ahead, the Dalesmen soon fell behind, full back Adam Armstrong giving the Kent side the lead after four minutes with a penalty from just inside the ten-metre line.

Armstrong was then sin-binned for fending off Greens’ right winger Scott Jordan after he had kicked ahead, and although the hosts attacked with renewed vigour, by the time the Blackheath No 15 came back on the pitch, the visitors were leading 8-3.

Centre Tom Davidson was shoved into the touch flag in the left corner and Wharfe-dale couldn’t then capitalise on a break by fly half Will Bell before Davidson levelled matters with a tenth-minute penalty.

Then Blackheath centre Samuel Windsor was twice involved in the 14th-minute move that put right winger Mike Canty over, fly half Paul Humphries missing the conversion as Arm-strong was still off the pitch.

A good break by scrum half Jack Walsh gave the visitors excellent field position four minutes later, Wharfe-dale full back Luke Gray being forced to hurriedly kick for touch. From the line-out, Blackheath flanker Dave Allen scored – as he so often does.

The Dalesmen then had a try chalked off as Gray’s short pass to No 8 Rob Baldwin was ruled marginally forward.

Davidson, who struck his place kicks well all afternoon, landed penalties in the 25th and 28th minutes to reduce the deficit to 13-9.

The home side finished the half with tries for the front-row union – one a rare five-pointer by McGee followed by a close-range effort from hooker Steve Graham, Davidson converting the latter to extend their lead to 21-13.

Rather than use the second half as a celebration of them receiving the RFU’s Whole Club Seal of Approval, the plaque for which was presented to them at half-time by Yorkshire RFU president Trevor Kent-Jones, Wharfedale went all passive again.

Armstrong landed a penalty and then added a low, raking conversion of Walsh’s try after he had charged down Davidson’s attempted clearance.

However, replacement fly half Tom Barrett dropped a goal within four minutes of coming on to put the Greens ahead again at 24-23. A Davidson penalty hit the far post and bounced out as Dale attempted to turn the screw.

Left winger Simon Horsfall helped the Greens’ cause in the 66th minute by running in a try from Blackheath’s ten-metre line, feinting to pass outside before cutting inside and beating the cover on a clear run to the whitewash.

Davidson’s conversion was easy from in front of the posts and, crucially, put the Dalesmen eight points to the good – something they were glad of when their lock Richard Brown was sin-binned.

Blackheath immediately responded with a try for Allen, which Armstrong converted but he had left the pitch by the time 80 minutes was up, Windsor missing that vital penalty from just inside the Wharfedale half.