Holland outstanding as Greens make it three victories in a row

In a raw, wind-tossed encounter at the Avenue, the Greens demolished a doughty but outclassed Tynedale.

Though slow at first to capitalise on a strong wind advantage, three tries in rapid succession at the end of the half together with a penalty and two conversions by Tom Davidson gave the Greens a 22-0 half-time lead.

All three scores resulted from expert close-quarter finishes by the pack. James Holland squirmed beneath a ruck, then No 8 Rob Baldwin and Steve Graham timed short bursts to perfection.

A further early bonus-point try after the break by Dan Solomi, exploiting the sin-binned absence of lock Graeme Dunn, halted any thoughts of a visitors’ revival.

Although they did claim a rucked try by No 8 Scott Myles after a brief period of pressure, they were unable to escape the stranglehold of an excellent all-encompassing home defence or meet the challenge of the destructive combination of powerful mauling and pick-and-drive play by the Green pack.

Wharfedale completed an increasingly confident performance with two late scores.

The outstanding Holland was at hand to race clear before replacement Tom Barrett added a sixth try with an equally pacy finish.

Huddersfield recorded a sixth successive win but they were made to work for a 17-10 National Two North win at Preston Grasshoppers where the sides could manage only one try each.

Grasshoppers made the better start, racing into a 10-0 lead. A fifth-minute penalty was followed by a try from No 8 Connor Murphy on 19 minutes, converted by scrum-half Mark Edwards.

Huddersfield steadied the ship and started to gain more possession, centre Chris Johnson punishing the home side’s indiscipline by landing three penalties in a seven-minute spell to make the half-time score to 10-9.

Preston came out strongly again after the break but could not add to their score.

Instead, it was the visitors who took the lead. Attacking down the blindside, Huddersfield showed some lovely handling which eventually set winger Adam Ryder free on 53 minutes to put them 14-10 up.

Grasshoppers started to dominate possession but they were kept at arm’s length by some solid defending and, with three minutes remaining, Johnson slotted a penalty to seal victory.

Otley crashed to a 31-0 National Two North defeat at Stockport, where there was no scoring in the first hour and not even an opportunity to kick a penalty.

Otley had been the better side but paid the price for losing their own lineout ball on four successive occasions while in attacking positions.

Finally, a penalty gave Stockport a rare visit to the Otley half. The pack drove well before releasing and full-back Steven Pearson came up to find a gap and score.

Winger Scott Redfern soon got in at the corner and the game became a rout with Stockport adding tries through No 6 Tom Cruise, lock David Hopkins and winger Jon Edwards, fly-half Joshua Longmore adding three conversions.

Harrogate won their National Two North relegation battle 22-13 at home to Kendal.

The hosts used wind advantage to build a 17-0 lead and wasted an opportunity to register a bonus point-winning fourth try before the break.

Kendal used the wind to reduce the lead to 17-13 after the interval but Harrogate continued with their attacking brand of rugby and Arnie Ellison’s second try eventually earned them a valuable five points.

Ellison had scored the opening try and Tom Harvey crashed over for a converted try after Kendal’s Joe Mallinson was sin-binned. Ryan Peacey also drove through to score before Mark Bowman became Kendal’s second player in the sin-bin.

Flanker Gary Holmes had a try converted by Gian Boardley. Kendal struck two penalties which threatened a comeback before Ellison confirmed victory.