Wharfedale RU
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Greens are in good heart for their county cup clash
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| Wharfedale second rowers Alistair Allen and Anthony Capstick in the game against Southend. |
Wharfedale will renew a local rivalry when they play National League Three North side Harrogate in the Yorkshire Cup next Tuesday.
The cup tie at The Avenue will kick-off at 7pm.
Wharfedale coach Peter Hartley said: "The club and players are looking forward to it. The cup game will also be a different type of pressure than the league, but it will enjoyable."
He said Wharfedale always like to play derbies against teams such as Harrogate and Otley.
"They all have that bit of extra spice that people enjoy," he said.
Hartley is anticipating a good game as Harrogate are a team that like to play attractive rugby. They have also played well this season and are currently fifth in their league.
The Greens are coming off a solid performance achieved against Southend in some very wet, windy and muddy conditions at The Avenue last Saturday. Wharfedale won 24-7 but the pitch took a hammering.
Hartley however said that the ground, which has good drainage, has recovered well. The Greens trained on it on Monday and Wednesday.
Hartley said: "You wouldn't have known how wet it was on Saturday. The groundsman spent a bit of time on it."
He said that Saturday's conditions had made the game difficult for both teams.
"The boys had such a hard time of it with the conditions. Good rugby isn't very conducive to very wet and windy weather."
Having said that this game was not short of entertainment. The Greens, at times, were very clinical and efficient in their performance.
The Wharfedale pack played well and showed their strength, particularly when Gavin Hindle scored their first try from a driving maul.
The forwards scored the Greens' other two first-half tries, one coming from a neat grubber kick by James Doherty that was pounced on by Rob Lednor, and the other came when Rob Baldwin broke through the defence from 20 yards out to put Wharfedale 19-7 up at half-time.
While they scored most of their points in the first period Hartley was even more pleased with the Greens' second-half display. "I thought we played really well, particularly in the second-half when we were playing into the wind," he said.
He also said that while the forwards did all the donkey work the backs deserved praise for their good work in chasing down kicks. The Greens sealed the victory when Luke Gray set up Chris Malherbe to touch down.
Although they won, the Greens had a few casualties as three players had to go off with injuries. Chris Steel had a bruised shoulder, Rob Baldwin a dead leg and Adam Whaites a back injury.
All three are doubts for the Harrogate game but one player likely to return is Sam Sticher.
2:52pm Thursday 3rd April 2008
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