Tale of Two Halves

On Saturday Wath upon Dearne RUFC 1st XV had their first away trip of the season away at Old Rishworthians. The two sides hadn’t met since 2010 so the game was an unknown for both teams.
Wath started well, they dominated the opening quarter, so much so the home side barely made into the Wath half. However the Rish defence was proving difficult to breach. However on the 20 minute mark the Rish defence finally creaked, the pack set the platform with a series of strong carries before Matt Burrows went close, the number 8 popped a superb offload to scrum half Ben Cairns and the youngster dove over the line.
The home side then began to attack, on two occasions they earned penalties and opted to go for the points, both times they were off target. However they kept pushing and eventually got their reward, the pressure on the Wath defence eventually told and they worked their way over 7-5.
Wath responded immediately, a combination of Joey Minshull and Curtis Brownrigg pressured the kick off and earned the turn over. Wath recycled the ball quickly and Cairns was over for his second with a 20 yard sprint to the line. Half time score 7-10.
Rishworthians came out all guns blazing in the second half and inside the first few minutes they had worked their way over for an impressive score 12-10. Wath never really managed to find their feet in the second half, the unforced error count was way too high and Rishworthians further extended their lead with a try from a rolling maul.
A tale of two halves from a Wath perspective, a solid first half was not followed up in the second, all credit to Old Rishworthian’s a much deserved win. Wath’s man of the match openside Flanker Ethan Dyson, as ever he produced a workmanlike performance and was a thorn in the side of the opposition throughout the game.