The game was played in a great atmosphere and a far cry from the tussle at Brinkburn back in February. Both teams concentrated on the rugby and despite the stats showing three yellow cards, referee Terry Garnett was thankfully only called to deal with technical infringements.

We dominated the first half territorially but only had a 37th minute Stu Waites penalty to show for our efforts. Adam Coates had gone closest to a try mid-way through the half when, after a series of lunges close to the line, he twisted his way over and looked to have the ball down but referee Garnett was unsighted and ruled held-up.

Luke Watson also went close when he cut through the Wheatley Hills back-line but was half tackled 10 metres short and as he stumbled toward the line failed to see Darren Thomas steaming up on his right shoulder and the chance went begging.

For the hosts, talisman Gaz Burns made a few trademark runs but handling errors at crucial times proved costly and for long periods they struggled to get any possession outside their own half. They did dominate the scrum but weren't as consistent at the lineout with a couple of overthrows.

The half had been far more entertaining than the 3-0 scoreline suggested but there were plenty of fireworks left for after the change of ends. Seven minutes into the half, a Gareth Foreman kick went out on the full and Hills took maximum advantage, rolling a maul all of 30 metres before Burns peeled off and scored by the left upright. Guy Townsley slotted the simple conversion for a 7-3 lead and moments later added a penalty after the West backs were caught offside.

Waites stemmed the tide a little with his second penalty on 56 minutes but the home side looked like a different outfit than in the first half and they came sotrming back with another score, this time from flanker Elliott. The wheels had seemingly come off and with Andrew Davies yellow carded for obstruction in the build-up to the try, the game looked to be slipping away.

But showing the character and composure of a side unbeaten since October we held it together and worked our way back into the match. A tap penalty from Darren Thomas on half-way got us moving forward and when Wheatley Hills replacement Kerry came in from the side, he was judged to have deliberately prevented an attacking play and joined Davies in the bin. Waites almost hit the flag with the kick for the corner and Tom Dixon's lineout take allowed Stephen Sotkcdale and Andrew Foreman to break off and the scrum-half to touch down for the try. Waites' touchline conversion sailed through and with it momentum shifted back our way.

With the game moving into the final 10 minutes we finally got our noses back in front. Dan Boatman, who led from the front all afternoon, made good ground and the home defence appeared to switch off for a moment as first Stockdale and then Davies made further yards up to the line. As the ball was moved back to the right Watson took advantage of the overlap for a simple try. Another good conversion from Waites stretched the lead to 3 points.

The contest was finally over when Jon Norris stormed up the right touchline for a great solo try and despite Waites just missing the conversion the two-score lead was enough breathing space for us to play out the four minutes of injury time without too much pressure.



West: Thomas, A Cheslin, Watson (Hodgson 79), G Robinson, Waites, G Foreman, A Foreman, Norris, A Dixon, Coates (C Robinson 65), T Dixon, Davies, D Boatman, Bailey, Stockdale (Miller 77).

Tries: A Foreman, Watson, Norris
Cons: Waites 2
Pens: Waites 2

Sin-bin: Davies


Wheatley Hills: Marshall, Richardson, Guest, M Hayward, T Barker, Townsley, I Barker, Starbuck, Cahill, Ogilvey, Undy, Griffiths, Buckenham, Elliot, Burns.

Tries: Burns, Elliot
Cons: Townsley 2
Pen: Townsley

Sin-bin: Kerry, Townsley

Referee: Terry Garnett [East Yorkshire Society]