IN a game which was a microcosm of the fluctuating fortunes of a somewhat frustrating season, Wharfedale, after a an opening half of overwhelming dominance, but rather aimless direction, finally exploded with a spectacular scoring spree that eclipsed their already relegated London visitors.

In a truly purple patch of champagne rugby, the Greens obliterated Camberley with a seven-try blitz of cutting edge running back play which at last refreshed the somewhat jaded pallet of the Avenue faithful.

And just to make matters worse for the plucky, but outclassed, visitors, all seven tries were converted with imperious ease by Jonathan Davies, two of them with kicks of towering command from the very edge of the touch line.

This victory, their 14th of the season, secured Wharfedale a very creditable sixth place in the table, their second best performance after last season's near-promotion third. And if the season as a whole, as it has dribbled to such a dislocated close, has smacked of anti-climax, the final curtain was at least brought down with the sort of creative panache the side has searched for all year.

What made the second half extravaganza all the more remarkable and even improbable was the nature and desultory quality of the first-half play. Trailing by two early penalty goals by fly-half Nick Stanton and centre Matt Chapman, the Greens then monopolised territory and possession.

There was some excellent ball gathering by the forwards and fine individual passing out of the tackle by Craig Ingram and especially the ever-redoubtable Paul Evans, who simply revelled in this his final game for the club.

But the aimless direction and static alignment behind, despite some typical dancing footwork from Gareth Johnston, simply played into the hands of the eager Camberley tackling.

Winger Craig Eccleston did succeed in rounding his man, but was recalled for a foot in touch, and a finely judged neat chip kick by Andy Hodgson narrowly eluded him close to the line. But the attacking play overall lacked the precision and pace required to produce a score in answer to Camberley's six-point lead.

After the break the match was transformed. Within five minutes a spectacular Hodgson try lit the touch paper for the exposition of scoring which followed. Receiving at pace from 40 yards out, he cut defender after defender to ribbons in a scything run to the posts.

There followed three further spectacular tries in the space of five minutes, all from swiftly released ball across the back line - a second for Hodgson and then two for full-back Davies joining the line at pace.

This fourth try evoked genuine memories of the Wharfedale past of the current coaches' playing days, coming as it did directly from the kick off, with crisp and direct forward interpassing and fluent, speedy movement through the three-quarters to a finish in the corner.

If the change from the first half was so spectacular and unexpected, its source was even more so. For the architect of the transformation was debutant fly-half Simon Walker, long-serving unsung second teamer with barely a previous sniff of the big time.

On as a substitute for the injured Chris Armitage, his swift hands and clinical unfussy distribution not only supplied the direction the back play needed, but also provided the accurate passing which allowed the mid-field runners to come on to the ball at pace.

That Hodgson, Davies and Johnston, who collected the next try, ran riot, speaks volumes for the extra space he created.

With the whole side now galvanised and rampant, Hedley Verity collected a support score to cap a fine series of long charging runs and minutes later Eccleston rounded off the try feast of 49 breathtaking points in 24 exhilarating minutes.

This final try was again the result of a piece of excellent work from Walker. Receiving the ball from the left on the 22, with the Camberley defence flat, but narrow, he aimed a high long diagonal kick beyond it to the far corner for a startled, but grateful, Ecccleston to gather and ground unopposed.

But as so often this tantalising season, the final minutes belonged to the opposition, with the home side allowing even the shell-shocked Camberley to reply with two consolation tries following individual bursts through some very end of season tackling by visiting flankers Brad Cribb and Graham Fleming, the latter whom had appeared minutes before to be mortally wounded on the touch-line.

So if the match itself produced a rousing curtain to the league season, it also mirrored the fluctuating inconsistency which has made the campaign one of such frustratingly unfulfilled promise.

In a year when only champions Bracknell performed with any truly hard-edged consistency - and Wharfedale could and should have been able to capitalise on their substantial early lead there and beaten them on their own soil - no other team was really beyond their grasp had the back and forwards truly gelled and patches of challenging play - as at Rugby- been sustained.

No one would suggest that there isn't room for improvement, but it might be suprising how little renewal, improvement and consistency would be needed to provide significant advance.

Only in the context of a committed ambition to provide as high a platform for local rugby players to perform as possible would sixth place in National Two seem less than fully satisfactory, especially with the likes of Waterloo and Orrell to grace the Avenue next season .

Wharfedale: J. Davies; C. Eccleston, A. Hodgson, G. Johnston, C. Armitage (S. Walker, 38); N. Heseltine, G. Smith; P. Peel, J Lawn (capt), C. Ingram (N. Dickinson, 58), D. Lister, A. Capstick, P Evans, H. Verity (P. Hargreaves, 69), R Buckroyd.

Camberley: A. Allen; A. Stewart, B. Kane, W. Davies, M. Chapman; N. Stanton, M. Baker; J. Wilmott, B. Gotting, P. Joyce, M. Hayman, M. Blakeburn, B. Gribb, G. Fleming, W. Milne.

Referee: A Biggs (RFU)