Wath 51 Barnsley 17

Both teams came into this local derby, postponed from the November floods, with wins from their two previous games. In front of Wath’s largest crowd of the season the visitors, Barnsley, opened the scoring with a penalty to take a 0-3 lead after just 5 minutes. However, Wath were soon able to turn pressure into points as they drove over their opponents’ try line from close range for captain, Joe Earp, to claim the try. Whitlam’s conversion narrowly missed and Wath had just a two point advantage: 5-3.
Wath doubled their score on 15 minutes when centre, Anthony Barratt, picked up a loose ball on the half way line and sprinted to touch down unopposed. Wath now were in front 12-3, following the missed conversion. The home team continued to pile on the pressure and scored three more tries before half time: On 25 minutes, Sean Hopper scored under the posts from a 5 metre scrum, then second row partner, Luke Stead, bulldozed over the Barnsley line on 30 minutes and, finally, full back, Tom Quinn, grabbed an opportunist try on 35 minutes. With only one more conversion Wath had a 29-3 lead at half time.
Wath continued to dominate their opponents after the break as Adam West, Sean Hopper and replacement, Tom Swift, ran in tries in the 45th, 50th and 60th minute respectively. One more successful conversion gave the hosts an emphatic 47-3 lead on the hour mark.
Perhaps a little complacency crept into Wath’s play but Barnsley showed great spirit to grab two converted tries and make the scoreline a more respectable 47-17. Wath were, however, able to reassert their dominance and Luke Stead completed the scoring with a try, making the final score 51-17.
This result moved Wath up to 6th in the league, but put the Barnsley side in relegation trouble as they continue to rebuild following the recent loss of several key players.
Wath’s recent run of good form will be severely tested when they face top of the table, Old Rishworthians, at home next Saturday.

Steve Corns