Wharfedale sunk by injury time penalty

Two converted tries from centre Chris Malherbe looked to have edged a tight match for Wharfedale but a fifth penalty from Blackheath full back Frankie Neale from 38 metres in injury-time snatched victory for his team.

The Greens should have won even though Blackheath held the advantage territorially. Only one occasion - when a forward pass negated a second half touch-down - were the visitors allowed a clear sight of the home line.

But they didn't need tries, thanks to Neale's consistent kicking, who succeeded with five from seven shots.

Wharfedale created enough try-scoring chances to have sealed the outcome, including a golden opportunity in the 66th minute when a flowing move was ended abruptly by a wayward pass to winger Andy Hodgson, who would have been clear to the line.

That said, both the Greens' tries had an element of chance about them. An Andy Baggett break led to the first in the 11th minute. His pass out of tackle to Mark Bedworth was low but the centre connected with his knee to send the ball clear of the defence for Malherbe to chase and take under the posts.

Malherbe's second try, on 50 minutes, was pure opportunism. He pounced on a loose ball after confusion in the Blackheath defence to leave Baggett with a routine conversion to make it 14-9.

Neale's fourth penalty clearance (58 minutes) built on his previous successes to set up the nerve-jangling final stages, in which Wharfedale appeared the more likely to score again - until the full back's clincher.