Richmond 13, Wharfedale 18

All’s well that ends well eventually.

So it was at Richmond, where Wharfedale got one monkey off its back – the one that says they can’t win in London – but they were unable to shake off the other one about always coming home with injuries.

The injury jinx hit early. Adam Whaites had failed a fitness test last Thursday, and then Joe Donkin broke down in the warm-up.

On the pitch, the match was only 30 minutes old when a groggy Joe Altham had to be led off, but the major worry came with a concussion to Wharfedale captain Chris Steel.

There was a very long hold-up, the kind where the players run around passing the ball to keep warm, so that by the end of the match no-one in the crowd had any idea when the final whistle would come.

When it did come, it signalled the end of the most extraordinary passage of play.

Well into injury time, Richmond punted a penalty deep into the Greens’ territory and, from the line-out, set up a magnificent drive - their first real assault in the Wharfedale line.

The referee consulted his assistant and awarded the try, which was converted from wide out to tie the scores at 13-13. The home crowd were high on a potent cocktail of relief and disbelief.

But the match was still not over and, from the restart, Wharfedale, not prepared to take a draw from a match in which they had been playing all the rugby, went for the win.

Pressure close to the home line gave a drop-goal chance to Tom Barrett (who was having another very fine match), but it went wide – and still the match went on.

Wharfedale gathered the ball from the restart and, after a few phases - enough to disorganise the defence - it was Tom Davidson who drew the full back to put winger Scott Jordan in for a try in the corner, to the delight of Wharfedale fans literally all over the world who were following the live feed provided by Richmond.

The match had begun in torrential rain, but Wharfedale were mastering the conditions the better; but despite having all the territory, all they had to show for their superiority after 20 minutes was a Barrett penalty.

At last getting into the match, Richmond finally equalised with a penalty from full back Rob Kirby, but Wharfedale once again took control: first a forward pass deprived Christian Georgiou of a try, then scrum half Matt Dudman seemed to be impeded when racing for a ball under the posts, and a fine Barrett drop goal was overruled for a previous infringement.

But the balance of play was finally translated into points when Dudman finished a sweeping move, with Jordan prominent, just before the break for a lead of 8-3.

It was a lead, but a modest reflection of Wharfedale’s superiority with ball in hand in trying conditions.

Richmond’s second half got off to the worst of starts when Jordan – who by rights should have been playing for the Foresters to prove his fitness after injury - finished a spectacular move wide on the right to make the advantage 13-3.

The home pack were capable of retaining the ball through multiple phases, but at no time did they look like disrupting the Greens defence, impregnable until that very late try.

On the other hand, the Wharfedale pack, with Richard Brown and Rob Baldwin in particular making a huge contribution in so many ways, were able to create a platform for their impressive back row to create mayhem in the home defence.

Aaron Myers was a constant threat, and his ability to draw in two and three defenders left room outside for the speedy Barrett to get his backs moving.

Long incursions were made by Josh Prell and Davidson, as well as Barrett himself, but only a combination of the slippery ball, desperate defence and ill fortune kept the scoreline within Richmond’s grasp.

In a side with heroes everywhere, it is difficult not to pick out Jordan as the star man, with after all his two tries and his assist for the third.

But that would be to ignore fine all-round performances all over pitch, with particular satisfaction coming from the increasing maturity of home-grown product, hooker Dan Stockdale.

Wharfedale: Georgiou; Jordan, Woodhead, Davidson, Prell; Barrett, Dudman; Altham (Armstrong 30), Stockdale, Steel (Dickinson 51), Brown, Rhodes, Burridge (Barnard 61), Myers, Baldwin. Replacements not used: Donkin, Davies.