Wharfedale, who look to break through the Sheffield backline, couldn’t conclude the season with a victory in South Yorkshire. Pic: John Burridge
REPORT BY: JOHN UTLEY
ON a dry and sunny day at Dore Moor, Sheffield Tigers entertained Wharfedale in the final National Two North league match of the season.
The hosts started the brighter and a stolen lineout ball resulted in some slick handling by the Sheffield Tigers backs for Sam Wager to score in the left-hand corner, with the conversion missing the target to make it 5-0.
From the restart, Wharfedale won a penalty midway into Sheffield Tigers’ half and Jimmy Howarth secured the points making the score 5-3.
Almost immediately back came Sheffield Tigers when James Norman out on the right and isolated, chipped ahead, got the bounce and scored in the corner, this time William Baker made no mistake with the conversion to make the score 12-3.
The tide was changing as Wharfedale got more control, particularly at the set piece, and were rewarded with a try through Brad Viner. The conversion was narrowly missed, making it 12-8 in favour of the hosts at the interval.
An early try for Wharfedale would have really made for an exciting battle but Sheffield Tigers dominated possession and after sustained pressure won a penalty for a high tackle which William Baker converted to make the score 15-8.
Wharfedale were now struggling to retain some possession and in the space of ten minutes Sheffield Tigers scored three tries through Barney Goatley ,William Baker and Nicholas Bingham, all converted by William Baker, making the score 36-8.
Try as they may, Wharfedale were unable to breakdown the Sheffield Tigers defence until a late intercepted pass by Harry Bullough resulted in a try which Jimmy Howarth converted making the final score 36-15.
So, the season ends with Wharfedale a credible 6th place in National League North Two having used over 40 players, entertaining hundreds of home supporters with an exciting brand of rugby which is a credit to both the coaching staff and medical team.
But the last word is from Simon Verbickas, who said: “May the players and coaches thank everyone who has come to both home and away matches this season. We really appreciate your support.”