NORTHERN PILOT LEAGUE

Wharfedale Foresters 10

Tynedale 2nds 15

THE Wharfedale Foresters lost by a margin of 15-10 in a close Northern Pilot League encounter against Tynedale at Threshfield.

Although the Foresters had won the Northern Pilot League every year since its inception, Tynedale had other ideas and ran out narrow winners in a game played at full tilt in rain that fell full pelt for 80 minutes.

The game opened in promising fashion for Wharfedale with a series of drives that took them deep into opposition territory but a dropped ball, turnover and missed tackles meant Tynedale escaped down the blindside and scored the first try after only five minutes.

Although Wharfedale had the majority of territory and possession, they struggled to combine phases of play with fluidity.

Tom Mann at full back did manage to show his pace on an several occasions; solid under the high ball he always seemed to break the first tackle and make yards.

It is one of these breaks that led to possession deep in the Tynedale half and a spectacular cross-field kick by Will Bell gathered by Eddie Gill, who managed to dance his way round the covering defence to score.

His try was converted by Rory McNabb to give Wharfedale an 7-5 lead at half-time, and with Max Bell yellow carded with only a couple of minutes to go they had little to show for their efforts and would start the second half with 14 men.

The second half was keenly fought but errors began to dog the Foresters; kicks to touch were missed, passes were dropped and attempts to run the ball from their own 22 metres meant they were pinned to their try line for long periods of play and could not gain territory.

Tyne kicked to the corners at every opportunity and time after time the green wall stood firm but something had to give and it did, a yellow card to Jack Wells and the visitors forced their way over from close range for a converted try.

The restart gave Wharfedale territory and breathing space, which they quickly made use of with a penalty kick awarded, which McNabb converted to cut the lead to 12-10.

The visitors had a period of pressure on the Foresters' try line and again dogged defence kept them at bay, and so Tynedale scored a penalty to make it 15-10.

After the re-start, the re-energised Foresters pounded the Tynedale try line for the final ten minutes but could not find the moment of power or creativity that could have made the difference. The Tynedale scrum-half was a relieved man when he kicked the ball off the field to end the game.

Foresters captain Tom Whyte said: "We were our own worst enemies and know we made too many errors but it’s over now, let’s move on."