SIX months ago Wharfedale, staring relegation in the face, produced the performance of the season and the prelude to the rich vein of form which saw them escape relegation with a run of ten consecutive League successes with a win at Nottingham.

But on Saturday, in disappointing contrast, the quality of their play matched the air of dilapidation of the hosts' quaintly decaying Ireland Avenue home as they were beaten 23-18.

An off key performance saw the Greens tamely surrender their 100 percent record to a Nottingham side who displayed much the greater desire and thoroughly deserved their victory.

The story of the game can be simply told. After ten minutes of phoney warfare, in which Jonathan Davies, after a missed early sighter, collected two well-struck penalty goals. Nottingham domineered the rest of a match in which they played with by far the greater will, energy and collective determination.

Seemingly fielding a depleted side, with key injuries and nine changes to the published programme, they made light of these rearrangements with a performance of purpose and direction which the Greens singularly failed to match.

So what went wrong? On the surface not very much.

Despite their significant under-performance, thanks to the splendidly accurate kicking by Jonathan Davies they were in touch throughout the match, in the lead fractionally at half-time and even at the death came within a hair's breadth of an improbable act of robbery which would have left even Robin Hood shamefaced when Phillip Peel was hauled down a couple of strides from the posts.

But there can be little refuge in the over-optimistic view that in their worst performance of the season they still all but rescued a victory they certainly would scarcely have deserved.

As if mentally attuned to expecting a wide game from the home side, the Dalesmen failed to contend with the foraging power they faced up front.

If all three Nottingham tries game from short-range mauls, this belied the ease with which the Ireland Avenue side made foraging headway across the gain line almost at will for most of the match.

The visitors' hitherto resolute defence was unsure, rushed for pace and repeatedly forced into salvage-tackling operation, where scrum-half Sam Cottrell's brave and combative display repeatedly sealed holes in the uncharacteristically porous back-row and three-quarter defence.

And if in defence Wharfedale were badly out of tune, in attack they were simply boy-band bland.

When, in the third quarter, the Greens at last secured some command of possession, their attempts at running back play never threatened the semblance of a score and expired tamely, suffocated by an expertly-operated defence.

The opening 10 minutes apart, the first half belonged entirely to Nottingham. Wharfedale were ahead at 6-0 after 10 minutes, but quickly overhauled by a brace of penalties by David Jackson and a try by prop Sam Moore converted by Jackson.

But for all their dominance and relative enterprise, Nottingham's propensity to infringe under pressure presented Davies, also one of the few forthright Green performers on the day, with a succession of kicks, the fifth of which gave the visitors a 15-13 interval lead which made a virtual mockery of the balance of play in the half.

The hosts continues to dominate much of the play after the break and in a period of growing ascendancy produced two further tries.

Mark Easter capped a fine debut at open side with the first and then the impressive marauding captain and lock forward Craig Hammond claimed the second to stretch the Nottingham advantage to 23-18.

Seeming to sense that their unbeaten run was in peril, Wharfedale at last roused themselves with something at least approaching passion and their first sustained deployment of possession almost brought its reward when a resolute home defence hauled down Peel under their posts.