Wharfedale 13 Henley 29

AFTER the belter at Bracknell, could there be heroics against Henley? The answer was 'Yes' for a while and then finally 'No'.

In the end, for all their sterling competitive commitment up front and ferocious tackling at the core of the side, Wharfedale were forced to concede victory to a side superior in pace and cohesion.

Henley were clear and deserved winners by an eventual four-tries-to-one margin, but without managing more than a cursory glimpse of the fine classical display of fluent play which had so impressively demolished the Dalesmen near the start of the season.

But even if they have been forced to cut their cloth and tailor their game to a more pragmatic style, Henley remain a side of fine quality, securely confident in their quick return to Division One.

As for Wharfedale, any tangible points return from a February trio of close encounters of the most daunting kind with the three top clubs was always going to be a futuristic bonus. But the Penzance demolition apart, the near miss at Bracknell and this Saturday's fully combative performance should at least provide a measure of more confident impetus to deal with more manageable challenges which lie ahead in their fight to stay alive in the Division, a task made just that little bit harder by the news of Nottingham's surprise success at Doncaster.

For a while, the Greens looked genuinely capable of an upset. Approaching the final five minutes of a hectic opening half, Wharfedale led 6-0 from two well-struck David Pears penalties and were on top. Their fight to stay in the game had in fact put them in charge. Their full-blooded assault piling men in at the breakdown secured a ready supply of possession, forced Henley on the back foot and reduced them to standing off in defence rather than challenging for the ball.

But for all the experienced prompting and probing of Pears, Wharfedale never discovered the pattern of attack which would have enabled them to pull the visitors' defence out of shape and provide the breakthrough their generally superior play at this stage merited. Henley's defence was impressively and skilfully marshalled, especially from the seemingly inviting phases when the midfield contained mere forwards to run at - and well nigh impregnable.

Wharfedale managed one clear breech only, a short break in the 22 by Chris Malherbe, whose pass to Andy Baggett was closed down in an instant.

But having survived virtually a complete half without the ball, it was almost inevitable that Henley would have their say.

In a furious final five-minute flourish, the visitors camped near the home posts, spurning kickable penalties in their first serious assault on the home line.

Drive after drive was denied by a mixture of resolute, heroic and plainly desperate tackling which resulted eventually in a 33-minute yellow card for Pears for interfering with the release of the ball under the shadow of his posts.

The visitors took full advantage of the depleted Green ranks to pile on the pressure, move the ball wide to the left for their excellent flanker and captain Mark Venner to plough over from short range and leave fly-half Barry Reeves with a conversion to take a 7-6 interval lead.

Once ahead and in charge, Henley were relentless in their second-half pressure, especially on the Wharfedale line-out, which they destroyed with depressing frequency.

Endless driving attacks, most seeming to include the impressively tireless running of lock Nick Martin taking over the mantle of the injured Venner, were repelled by fiercely-determined tackling. At the core of the defence Pears, Baggett, and Malherbe, aided by Hedley Verity and Ben Wade in the back row, were magnificent in their commitment.

But as against Penzance, the odd first-up tackle miss elsewhere was crucially responsible when the tries eventually came. The Dale held out resolutely, but in the end the superior pace on the wings was bound to tell.

A converted try by centre Russell Osman and a Reeves penalty established a 17-6 lead which put the game safe for the visitors and further controlled pressure resulted in a converted try by speedy winger Nmandi Obi.

But Wharfedale's challenge was more than mere resistance and once they had established an attacking territorial platform a fine series of short pick and drives freed just enough space for a determined Pears to force himself through two tackles on a short-side dash for the line.

His own conversion narrowed the gap to 24-13, but it came too late to fuel a last-ditch challenge and left Henley to wrap up success with a final unconverted score by burly substitute scrum-half Dan Smaje.

Though perhaps short of the all-out impressive performance of the previous week, this was at least a positive one in all but attacking penetration - a single Jonathan Davies break was all they were allowed in the second half.

Having suffered from Andy Hodgson's breathtaking brilliance at its best at home, this time round Henley's single-minded targeting of the full-back rendered him ineffective, apart from a single run at the death.

For once Wharfedale were neutered by expertly-ordered defence against them rather than their own deficiencies or profligacy when on the attack.

The Avenue support will hope the remaining opponents are easier to crack now that their team is beginning to look a more capable and competitive side.

Wharfedale: A Hodgson (capt); J Davies, C Malherbe, (D Whitfield 77), A Baggett, G Johnston; D Pears, S Cottrell; P Peel, J Ogden, N Dickinson (C Ingram 57), D Lister, A Capstick, P Evans (S Hargreaves 57), H Verity, B Wade.

Henley: P Davies; N Obi, R Osman, R Van Zyl, A James; B Reeves, B Ayres; R Fuller, J Hamilton-Smith, A Hopcroft, J Winterbottom, N Martin; J Atkinson, M Venner (capt), A Mortimore.

Referee: T Wigglesworth (RFU)