Wath made the short journey down the bypass to Wortley last Saturday with a healthy squad looking to build on last weeks narrow victory over Hallamshire.

Wath received the kick off and were not up to the standard previously shown and conceded too many soft penalties which resulted in Wortley taking an early deserved 3 point lead after a long range penalty from the Wortley fullback flew over with ease. Another lack of concentration from Wath saw Wortley crash over from a quick tap penalty to extend their lead to 10 after a difficult conversion was made.

This seemed to wake Wath up and strong running by Chris Thoday, Jack Anderson and Tim Hicks saw Wath get a foothold in the game and worked their way upfield. Following a series of lineouts in the Wortley 22 Tim Hicks eventually crashed over from a driving maul narrowing Wortley’s lead to 10-5. This gave Wath more confidence and a smart kick on the counter by Joel Gunn saw Alex Miles smartly gather and with no defenders to beat decided to dive for the 5m line instead of the try line. The ball was eventually recycled and Jack Anderson crashed over however the try was disallowed for a double movement by Alex. Shortly after another smart kick was gathered on the wing by Jamie Vokes who smartly cut inside and dove over the try line setting Joe Thompson up for an easy conversion, this lead however was short lived as Wortley kicked another penalty before the half gaining a narrow lead before the half 13-12.

The second half saw Wath make a number of changes included a debut for Jake Keogh at 8. Unlike the first half Wath started with much greater intent and soon went over the white line after a great break from Jack Anderson followed by an excellent offload set Alex Roebuck free under the posts to score unchallenged. From the following restart captain Max Reeder collected and made an excellent break only to be stopped 10 metres from the line. A succession of brilliant work in the scrums and around the corner from the dominant forwards saw Alex Roebuck switch play to the blindside and Alex Baxter rolled back the years to power over taking 3 people over the line with him. Wath remained dominant for most of the half lead by exceptional tackling from Joel Breedon and added one more try to their tally when Brian Donnelley hit a nice line from 12 to power over. Wortley did manage to work their way back into the game slightly through a determined try and a penalty or 2 but Wath managed to nullify their threat and saw out the game eventually winning 33-25.

A decent performance overall after a disappointing start but ultimately plenty of positives to take from the game and some pointers to work on for next week.

Alex Baxter.