Wharfedale 20 Birmingham Solihull 21: Hawkes swoops at death as off-key Greens are made to pay for indiscipline

Seven minutes from time, Wharfedale looked to have rescued this lively but messy encounter from the fire.

Dan Solomi scored his second try as the flanker was driven over in a mass of bodies near the line for the home side to regain a slender 20-18 advantage.

But a gutsy final rally by the visitors provided Dan Hawkes with a platform for a last-ditch penalty to claim back a one-point lead which powerful final maul play managed to protect as they played out time.

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Wharfedale, on the other hand, can largely blame themselves for losing a match in which they frittered away ample possession and tossed away a final life-line lead.

First, a yellow card for Brown for upending the jumper at a corner lineout resulted in the visitors’ second try, scored by captain Jack Preece.

Then a second penalty allowed Hawkes the match-winning kick.

The visitors were effectively direct when they got the chance, going ahead after five minutes as prop Naglu Tau powered over, giving Hawkes a simple conversion which he followed with a penalty to give the visitors 1 10-0 lead.

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A flurry of yellow cards led to the joint dismissal of Rob Baldwin and Brightwell and then visiting fellow flanker Farmer.

The Greens struggled to capitalise until late in the half when a trademark breakaway run by Solomi narrowed the margin to 10-8 at the break.

Shortly after the resumption, a fine break by Baldwin found Aaron Myers on hand to tap the ball over the line and score.

Wharfedale fleetingly threatened to at last impose themselves but their play became increasingly error-prone in the contact area and their momentum drained away.

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A fraught final quarter saw a more genuine contest with first Hawkes kicking his second penalty to level the match at 15-15 and the see-sawing exchange of scores which gave the visitors a sweet and deserved victory against the odds.

This was a match which Wharfedale, even playing badly, should still have been capable of winning and they now find themselves third from bottom of the table.

The Greens are holding a sportsman’s dinner at the Rendezvous Hotel, Skipton, on Thursday, November 10.

The speakers will be Andy Irvine, the British Lion who will manage the Lions on their tour to Australia in 2013, and Ian Robertson, the BBC commentator who played stand-off for Scotland in the 1970s.

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