Huddersfield Falcons 73 – 5 Wath-Upon-Dearne
(Tries: Neilly x 3, Wilkinson x 2, Morrison x 2, Walker, Owen, Hood, Scrimshaw. Cons: Scrimshaw x 9)
The Falcons continued a strong start to the season with an eleven try romp against visitors Wath-Upon-Dearne in their first home game of the campaign.
It only took five minutes for Huddersfield to score the first of many tries at the picturesque Lockwood Park. A strong team lead by captain John Sedgwick and vice Olly Scrimshaw came out all guns blazing, successfully charging down two attempted clearances in Wath’s own 22 for Darren Neilly to pinch the ball and score his first. Con scored.
Wath responded well with a set piece orchestrated perfectly by the fly-half to create just enough space for the right winger to run the ball into the corner. Unfortunately for Wath, this would turn out to be their only points of the game. Con missed.
A stolen lineout soon after allowed Huddersfield to retain the ball for several phases, eventually creating a break on the right with Arthur Wilkinson supported closely by Harry Granger. Given the choice of stepping the last defender or giving Harry some bragging rights, Arthur backed himself to waltz around the incoming winger and put the Falcons back in the lead. Con scored.
The next try would have deeply disappointed the A-Team if they hadn’t been playing on the opposite side of the viaduct. A terror for the opponents all game, Josh Walker forced the Wath scrum-half to drop the ball with some quick jockeying after a scrum. Support not quite there, Josh took the reigns and booted the ball up upfield twice to score a brilliant individual effort by the posts. “Not proper rugby that” you could hear the A-Team say. Con scored.
The next two tries were almost identical. The first, a quick tap from Josh Walker allowed the workhorse Louis Frear to break through the midfield and quick recycling rewarded Darren Neilly with his second try. Con scored. For the second try it was Darren’s turn to carve up the midfield, recycling the ball nicely for Tommy Owen to touchdown in the corner. Con missed.
In the last few minutes of the half, a clever kick onto the opponent’s tryline caused panic from the Wath defence and a huge pile of bodies contesting for the ball. Somewhere amongst this, Wath’s hooker inexplicably decided to tackle Huddersfield’s Jack McPhail with his head, earning himself a headache and a yellow card. Strong play from the now uncontested scrum allowed Danny Hood to put the ball down by the posts. Con scored.
Half called at 38-5 and the Falcons all agreed to maintain the pressure on for the second half whilst Josh Walker demanded the first aid kit. “What’s wrong?” the team asked apprehensively. “I need to cut my toenails” Josh replied.
The first act of the second half fell to Danny Hood. Sensing the chance of earning a new profile picture in front of photographer and club legend Ray Morris, Danny powered through the defence only to drop the ball during an attempted swan-dive. An excuse of “I was tripped” deemed unacceptable for a team who had no hesitation in declaring him ‘D*** of the Day’.
Later on after the laughter had subsided, front-rower Josh Crickmay made a strong case to be Hudderfield next fly-half with an excellently weighted pass allowing Olly Scrimshaw to step around a defender for a run in behind the posts. Con scored.
The Falcons defence was tenacious throughout with every player putting in a solid shift. High pressure from the backs allowed Harry Granger to steal a loose ball, only to be held just short of the line. Current academy product Joe Morrison demanded the ball and Harry obliged, popping up a difficult ball for the talented seventeen year old to score. Con scored.
Will Cossey was unfortunate to not score next, having a try between the posts disallowed thanks to interference from the ref. Instead, the resulting scrum on the 5m allowed Arthur Wilkinson to receive several pats on the back from the Wath defence as he scored his second of the day. Con scored.
Huddersfield’s tenth try came as Darren Neilly came back off the bench to slam dunk the ball over the line for his hattrick. Con scored.
The final try was created by Tommy Owen, bullying his way through the defensive line and offloading for the nearby Joe Morrison to run in for a brace. Con scored.
With a final score of 73-5, the Falcons used a mix of youth and experience to show promising offense and defence, proving that they should be aiming for the top this season.
MotM: Josh Walker
1. Jack McPhail
2. Danny Hood
3. Will Cossey
4. Louis Frear
5. Darren Neilly
6. John Sedgwick (c)
7. Ben Royds
8. Leighton Davis
9. Josh Walker
10. Olly Scrimshaw
11. Toby Spooner
12. Tom Owen
13. Joe Morrison
14. Harry Granger
15. Arthur Wilkinson
Replacements
16. Singh Hayre
17. Josh Crickmay
18. Matt Moran
