Wath 27 Barnsley 10

Wath welcomed local rivals, Barnsley, to Moor Road in sunny, springlike conditions. The away team started the game in a very lively manner hoping to gain revenge for their defeat at Shaw Lane earlier in the season. Keeping Wath penned in their own 22 for the first 20 minutes, Barnsley should have taken the lead but two kickable penalties were missed. Barnsley continued to put pressure on the Wath line and it took a herculean effort, in particular, from Tom Quinn to prevent the opposition crossing the try line.

On 20 minutes Wath were reduced to 14 men when Andy Hopkin was penalised at a ruck and the referee decided Wath had received enough warnings. Barnsley caught the home team whilst still reorganising their defence and, finally, were able to get a score on the board. The conversion to the try went wide but Barnsley had a 0-5 advantage.

Wath gradually started to respond and worked their way into Barnsley territory. As the Wath forwards with Ash Rothery at the head, began to take control, the threat from the away team waned. Following a couple of close range attacks, Wath forced a 5 metre scrum. Barnsley defended well but, from a similar phase of play Wath managed a push over try, touched down by skipper, Joe Earp. With Jack Whitlam’s impressive conversion Wath took the lead 7-5 just before the half time whistle.

Wath extended their lead almost straight from the restart. Following a scrum 22 metres out,
centre, Andy Hopkin, made a powerful break through the Barnsley defence. Eventually, stopped just short of the try line, he offloaded to flanker, Tom Swift, who was up in support and he went over unopposed. Whitlam’s conversion made the score 14- 5.

Wath had the majority of possession and territory but the Barnsley team showed great resilience and spirit to stay in the game. On 60 minutes Jack Whitlam landed a long range penalty to improve Wath’s lead to 17-5 and, five minutes later, added another, easier penalty to stretch Wath’s advantage to 20- 5.

With five minutes to go the home team sealed the win. Several attacks were kept at bay but Barnsley were unable to prevent the strong run of Andy Hopkin, who deservedly got on the scoresheet.Another Whitlam conversion made the score 27-5.

Barnsley continued to compete in all areas and a fine break from the left wing resulted in a last minute consolation try. The conversion was missed and the final whistle went with score standing at 27-10 to Wath. Unfortunately, the result has meant Barnsley have slipped into the relegation zone but we wish them well and look forward to next season’s derby games.

Steve Corns

Andy Hopkin

Watching Andy’s dynamic performance no one would have guessed he had raised himself from his sickbed after a plea from coach Simon. No mere mortal could have produced such powerful runs and devastating tackles in his physical state. This ability to overcome any setbacks must all be “in his head”