Wharfedale and Rotherham Titans suffer narrow defeats in National Two North

The Yor k shire side made a strong start to the match but couldn’t turn that into points, and it was instead their hosts who drew first blood with full-back Gethin Long touching down in the seventh minute.

They doubled their lead five minutes later with left winger Harrison Vare racing in on 12 minutes.

But it wasn’t long before Wharfedale opened their account.

Second row Ryan Carlson grabbed a 15th-minute try, and although stand-off Robert Davidson missed that conversion he was on target following a 25th-minute try from Wharfedale’s left winger Oscar Canny, which left them 12-10 ahead.

Liam Reeve kicked a penalty for Chester on the half hour which gave them a narrow lead, and another followed ten minutes later as they edged 16-12 ahead.

Their third try came on 55 minutes through prop Tom Furnival and put them 21-12 ahead, but Wharfedale soon hit back.

Davidson scored and converted a try of his own on the hour mark and added a 68th minute penalty to give them a 22-21 lead, but a late penalty from Reeve handed Chester the win and left Wharfedale with just a losing bonus point.

Similarly, Rotherham Titans had to settle for a losing bonus point after being beaten 21-16 by hosts Preston Grasshoppers.

The home side raced into a 15-0 lead before the Titans got off the mark, two tries from left winger Tyler Spence and a penalty and conversion from stand-off Will Hunt putting them in control.

But the Clifton Laners hit back with stand-off Corben Ollivent kicking a penalty on 17 minutes.

Hunt added a drop goal for the hosts to make it 18-3, before Ollivent added a second penalty and wing forward Marcus Payne touched down to narrow the gap to 18-11.

A penalty for Preston made it 21-11 before flanker Callum Bustin charged in for a try to make it 21-16. However, efforts to find a winning score in the final 20 minutes proved elusive and Grasshoppers held on for the win.

With much of the Northern Division programme wiped out by frozen pitches, Doncaster Phoenix made the most of passing their pitch inspection by securing a 43-7 win over West Bridgford in Regional One North East.

Clayton Hill scored twice while others came from Patrick Selkirk, Matt Brennan, Frasier Lieper, Keiron Phillips and Harry Williams. Sam Brooke kicked three conversions and Steve McColl one.

The win moves them up to sixth and closes the gap on their rivals above, although Billingham continue to lead following a 60-10 win over North East rivals Alnwick.

Leaders Moortown extended their advantage in Regional Two North East with a 76-19 win over fourth-placed Scarborough, while in Counties One Yorkshire Keighley went top of the table following a 24-5 win over Leodiensian.