Wath 30- 5 Winnington Park 5

Wath 30 – 5 Winnington Park

The scene was set on this stunning early spring afternoon for an epic quarter final of the RFU Senior Vase.
Bright sunshine with very little breeze was in stark contrast to conditions in recent matches as Wath took the field with a near full strength team.
The opening quarter saw Wath gain territorial advantage only to give away a string of penalties when what was needed was patience and the need to maintain pressure. Four clean line breaks were left unsupported and Wath’s scrum was penalised on three occasions letting a feisty WinningtonPark off the hook.
On 37 minutes Antony Barratt finished off a well worked try with Jack Whitlam slotting over the conversion to make it 7-0 with half time seconds away.
Winnington Park gained possession from the kick off and after several phases of play broke through the Wath fractured defence down the blind side to make it 7-5 at half time.
The half time team talk was about maintaining pressure through greater speed and commitment at the breakdown and moving quick ball into wider channels where Winnington looked more susceptible.
A period of pressure resulted in Jack Whitlam converting an early penalty, 10-5 and Wath beginning to string together more phases of play. Richard Hill now entered the fray and the pack started to generate much quicker ball with evergreen Joe Bartlett orchestrating play and stretching the opposition defence. After a series of pick and drives Sam Holt finished off a slick handling movement and Jack Whitlam once again made the conversion from wide out to establish a lead of 17-5. Jack then converted a penalty before aggravating an old ankle injury and left the field. Antony Barratt moved to fly half with Ash Rothery moving to centre.
Wath grew stronger and started to dominate with Ash Rothery turning over some critical ball but were still giving away far too many penalties keeping Winnington in the match.
However, after quick ball was moved wide the excellent Sam Holt side stepped his way past 3 defenders to score the try of the match making it 25-5 as Barratt narrowly missed the conversion.
A semi final place was secured when a now more dominant pack of forwards drove for the line with Richard Hill barging his way over to make the final score 30-5 and a much deserved victory over a very game Winnington side.
A fine all round team display and news of a home semi final on 31st March against Long Eaton or St Ives (Midlands) who hold their quarter finals next weekend.
Wath are now just just one match away from returning to Twickenham in May after missing out to Wells in the 2012 final.

Tony Price