Wath 2XV looked to bounce back from last week disappointment with a visit to Huddersfield YMCA.
Spirits were lifted on arrival when it was discovered the YMCA 1XV had a home Yorkshire cup game and therefore the game was on the 2nd pitch. The first pitch at YM is so big you can see the curvature of the earth. YM attacked from the start and put Wath under pressure, the home teams compact prop forward ‘Johnson’ tore some serious holes in Waths defence and it took some last ditch defending to keep them out. With 6 minutes gone Wath forced their way towards the YM line, from a ruck 5m out skipper Jim West burst over to open the scoring. Sean Power back on kicking duty converted. YM went straight back onto the offensive, good runs from their backrow and flyhalf supplementing the drive of Johnson. They won a penalty 25m out and took the points. Ym continued attacking with powerful individual runs and eventually went over for a try which was converted. Wath had by now soaked up a lot of pressure, Henry Roberts at 8 and Sam Levitt had put in some big tackles, the backs had stepped up to the challenge. From a ruck on the home teams 10m line Sam Jones playing at 10 for the first time this season picked out centre Andy Lintin running a superb line, he burst through the centres, stepped the fullback and went over for a good try. Sean Powers conversion attempt hit the post. 10-12. Andys run seemed to raise the Wath teams spirits and the game changed. It was all Wath attack, good driving, controlled set piece and the ball moving through the back line. Five minutes later Jim West went over, Sean converted. Similar pattern to game and on 30 minutes Jonty Morrissey went over for a score, converted. Bonus point by half time.
The game however was not over, YMCA continued to attack, they freshened up their team by rotating their subs. From a knock on in the YM 22 which was knocked back by Wath a YM player picked up and went length of pitch as all the players and supporters waited for the ref’s whistle. Although it went to his mouth he never blew, the team learned the hard way ‘always play to the whistle’. YM scored again and the scores were getting very close. From a superb piece of back play however Sean Power went over out wide, he ran under the posts to make the kick easier. The ref blew for a try, but the YM fullback claimed Sean had trod on deadball line, so he changed his decision. Wath seemed to lose cohesion for a short period, however a penalty 30m out was converted by Sean Power. The last score from Wath came 10 minutes from end. Strong driving from pack and a good surge by Calum Mcnally who was stopped inches short allowed the ever mobile support Max Reeder to pick up and pop the ball over line, converted. YM however never stopped trying and scored with virtually last move of the game to put them within 2 points. Huge sighs of relief at final whistle, a very entertaining game played full on by 2 teams in good spirit.
Man of Match: Andy Lintin for his good runs and stoic defence.