Wharfedale take giant step toward safety

10:57am Monday 10th March 2008

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Henley 18 Wharfedale 29

Wharfedale took a giant step toward safety with a victory at Henley - the side occupying the highest of the three relegation positions.

The result lifts the Greens to tenth in the table, 16 points clear of the drop zone.

If the standard of play in a mistake-ridden game rarely matched that of the stellar performance against Blackheath the previous week, the win (and five precious league points) was nonetheless fully warranted.

Jitters, on both sides, were perhaps understandable in the circumstances but, after a decidedly edgy first half, the Dalesmen had enough passages of controlled play to have put the match beyond Henley before the hosts mounted a final defiant push for consolation points.

A determined start by the Greens yielded an Andy Baggett penalty (eight minutes), but matched by home fly half James Farndon (15).

By the end of a half dislocated by a number of stoppages for mostly minor injuries, each side had profited with scores while the opposition was reduced by sin-bin decisions by referee Mark Wilson.

With Henley hooker Dinos Alexopolus absent, Wharfedale collected tries by his opposite number Gavin Hindle (29), after a driven maul, and centre Mark Bedworth (32), receiving the scoring pass from full back Andy Hodgson. Baggett improved the second try for 15-3.

Greens winger Chris Malherbe was on a ten-minute rest while Farndon cleared with a penalty (35) and Henley flanker Tom King scored in injury-time from a line-out drive.

A 15-11 half-time advantage for the visitors was deserved, but hardly comfortable.

But by the time the final quarter was under way, Wharfedale had opened up a winning lead at 29-11 with well-taken converted tries from Malherbe (54), after opposite winger Simon Horsfall had made the telling break, and No 8 Rob Baldwin (63), who evaded ineffectual tackling in a run down the wing before veering under the posts.

Resigned to defeat and probably at last relaxed, Henley finished the match on the attack, King making his second touchdown (71), converted by Farndon.