Yet again absences affected both teams. Dinnington had a couple of players away at county u-16 trials. West still had Michael Young injured, while Lambert, Gupta and Cairns were all unavailable. Peter Dewhirst and Andy Logan returned at centre and back row, allowing Arron Myers to resume duties at No. 8. Stephen Short [being tackled below]  moved to outside centre, and Michael Murray came in on the wing.

Dinnington looked a big side, featuring a Yorkshire prop on the bench, and came with a big reputation which they immediately started to justify, putting West under early pressure. The West pack responded well however, and the game began to move from end to end, with West gaining the early lead when Tom Dixon kicked a penalty from just left of the posts. Dinnington responded strongly, and pushed West back, but yet again the defence was outstanding, most notably when stealing a Dinnington throw three metres from the line. Having survived this period of pressure, West mounted their own series of attacks, culminating in a passage of play along the backs which allowed full back James Evens to feed Michael Murray, who scored in the corner. West went in at half-time 8-0 up.

Prop John Greenwell had to go off injured at half-time, and Ben Richardson came in at hooker, with Jon Norris moving to prop. The weight difference did not appear to have a major impact, however, and the West forwards continued to match the powerful Yorkshire pack. The game continued to excite, with both teams having spells of pressure.

West gradually seized the initiative, and after winning a line-out close to the Dinnington line, another series of surges and neat passes along the backs gave winger Luke Austin the space to go in at the opposite corner [pictured above]. Caught in the back as he went down, he had to go off and Liam Wager came on in his place. Dinnington pulled points back when their No. 8 saw an opening on the open side from a five-metre scrum, and went over for a clever try.

The conversion meant they were only a converted try away from taking the lead, and they continued to pressure, but again West’s defence impressed, and Gavin Robinson relieved the pressure with a series of fine kicks. West’s passing along the line was causing Dinnington problems, and another nice move resulted in Tom Barker feeding Tom Dixon, who dummied and created space for a good try under the posts, which he converted. With fewer than ten minutes left, the 13 point deficit was always going to be hard for Dinnington to pull back, and although they scored a consolation try with the last play of the game, West finished 20-14 winners.

A  tremendous performance against powerful opponents. Next week West travel to Morley, who despite being bottom of the table, have always been difficult opponents for West, the Leeds side having won all three previous encounters by a single score, most recently with a drop goal at the Houghton Festival last season. Hopefully, this time it’s West’s turn.