Another narrow loss puts Greens in peril

Yet again as in recent weeks the beleaguered Wharfedale suffered the frustration of being on the losing side in a game they could well have won.

But this week there was no hard luck story as five missed kicks at goal and some brittle first-half tackling contributed substantially to the outcome.

Park, in addition, moved the ball better in midfield, were crucially more powerful at the breakdown and managed the game with greater certainty.

This was a match in which no-one was in charge for even the most fleeting of phases.

After the first quarter, Wharfedale led by two tries to one, both involving the combination of scrum–half Phil Woodhead and Ben Sowrey, with the hooker finishing off Woodhead’s dummying break and Woodhead in turn supporting a powerful run to the line.

Answering tries through some fallible home tackling by Park winger Mike Dutton and centre Matt Riley, who added two conversions, eased the visitors ahead and from then on there was never more than a single score between the sides.

A James Druce penalty gave the Greens a 15-14 lead at the break, but a Richard Wainwright try immediately after the resumption restored the visitors’ lead before a second Druce penalty again brought the sides to within a point of each other.

Substitute Greg Smith secured Tigers a bonus-point try with an excellent kick-and-re-gather touchline break.

But just as things looked bleak for Wharfedale they seemingly rescued the match with tries from winger Scott Jordan and outstanding flanker Aaron Myers to nudge themselves ahead again at 28-26.

But they paid for fallible goal- kicking when Smith’s 70th-minute penalty sealed for the Tigers a win they just about deserved.

The Greens’ four tries secured them a second bonus point, but their failure yet again to clinch a game from a winnable position leaves them still perilously placed at the bottom end of the National One table.