Wharfedale 49

Scunthorpe 12

A RAMPANT Wharfedale scored five converted tries by half-time and went to blitz Scunthorpe at the Avenue on Saturday.

The Greens had this match sewn up by half-time after running out to a 35-0 lead, Scunthorpe had the wind and the slope in the second half and their resilience was rewarded with two tries.

This was after the home side had stretched the lead to 49 points in the first 10 minutes with two more tries.

A knock-on at the kick-off gave Scunthorpe early possession and they went through seven phases without really making progress and were forced to kick.

Jack Blakeney-Edwards cleared the ball up to Dale’s 10-metre line. An exchange of penalties followed and then Blakeney-Edwards sent the ball deep into the visitor`s 22.

A good drive by the Green Machine was followed by Oli Cicognini dancing through the defence to touch down. Blakeney-Edwards converted this try and had a 100 per cent record for the match.

The kicks were from a variety of positions, sometimes wide to the left or the right, with a difficult wind to contend with.

Wharfedale ran the restart back at the visitors and were only held up by a forward pass in Scunthorpe’s 22.

More pressure from the Dale forwards was rewarded when Sam Gaudie broke clear for the second try. Given the forward momentum he was able to run at the defence and with a dummy and a couple of shimmies he reached the line untouched.

Scunthorpe suffered a yellow card when prop Nicholas Siddall fell on Rob Baldwin and his elbow made contact with Baldwin’s head.

The third try came after a break from Blakeney-Edwards, which led to a grubber kick from Oscar Canny who followed up to touch down.

The bonus point try came from the forwards after Blakeney-Edwards had sent another penalty into the corner.

The line-out was good and the drive efficient with Chris Walker being awarded the score.

Scunthorpe were again reduced to 14 men after repeated offences led to a technical yellow for second row Nicholas Dyson. Blakeney-Edwards wrapped up the first half try fest with a solo effort.

The Dale pack forced the first try of the second half with Toms Asejevs touching down. Soon after the restart a searing break from Matt Speres was followed up by Gaudie and the backs, with only the touchline saving Scunthorpe.

A minute later, skipper George Hedgley broke a tackle on the visitor’s 22 and beat the cover for Wharfedale’s final score - 49 points in 49 minutes.

Credit to Scunthorpe who fought back into the game with tries by William Scammell and Kane Linklater. Paul Cook converted the second one.

Wharfedale: Verity, Canny, Blackwell, Moore, Cicognini, Blakeney-Edwards (Bullough 56), Gaudie (MacNab 56), Beesley (Asejevs 35), Stockdale (c 67), Altham (Dickinson 35), Borrill, Hedgley (c) (Beesley 67), Walker, Speres, Baldwin (Metcalf 59)