On Saturday Wath upon Dearne RUFC 1st XV journeyed to Halfiax based Old Brodleians. Following last week's lacklustre performance a bounce back was a must!
Whilst the result was disappointing, the performance was markedly improved upon last week and Wath can fell unlucky not to have edged the game.
The hosts started brightest and were over fairly early on with a slick handling display in the backline to see the winger away and clear.
It did take Wath some find to find their feet, both sides struggling to adjust to the weather and pitch conditions; however, they did get off the mark with an Appleyard penalty on 30 minutes.
This score was almost immediately countered when Brods landed a penalty of their own.
Into the second half and Wath started well, Appleyard made a superb break from half way before finding wing Tom Quinn in support, the youngsters had the legs to race away and score 10-8.
The purple patch continued and Wath went into the lead shortly afterwards, a series of powerful pick and drive gave good field position before centre Martyn Bray coasted through a gap and slid over the line 10-15.
However the lead was short lived when the visitors hit back with a try from a 5metre scrum leaving the scores level with 10 minutes to go.
Both sides were now hunting the crucial score, with three minutes to go Wath conceded a penalty which gave the hosts a slender lead. However Wath were not about to admit defeat, into injury time the Wath side battered away at the Brods line before with time gone Andy Beardshall appeared to have forced his way over. However the referee could not see the grounding and thus the try was not awarded.
It was a disappointing end to the game but the improvement in performance was such compared to last week that overall the display was a positive one. Special mention must go to Andy Beardshall, having only being playing rugby since the start of the season, the back row player slotted on to the wing for the entire game and was superb throughout.
Final score Old Brodleians 18 Wath 15.