Another challenging day for Goole away at Wetherby on Saturday with just a single losing bonus point as scant reward for their efforts in an error and penalty strewn match that had limited quality from either side. The key factor in the win for Wetherby being their total dominance of the scrum that ultimately won them the game with 14 points coming from an early push over try and following penalty try. Goole once again had several key players missing but still had the opportunity to win this match but their frustrating habit of gifting easy points to the opposition continued for Wetherby’s match winning third try.
It was the home side that applied early pressure following the first of many scrum penalties conceded by the Goole pack with the home side turning down several kick at goal options once they had established scrum dominance. With Wetherby dominating possession and territory for the first nine minutes of the match it was only a matter of time until they opened the scoring with a push over try alongside the posts. 7-0. Despite the early setback Goole responded well and were rewarded with a converted try of their own from Charlie Walton who powered over following a line out near the home team try line. 7 – 7 after 24 minutes with the Wetherby scrum dominance being the only real challenge that Goole had to deal with. It was therefore no surprise when Goole took the lead with another close range try from Charlie Walton. The unsuccessful conversion bringing the score to 7 – 12 approaching half time. Disappointingly, Goole failed to hold on to the lead until half time after conceding a harsh penalty on halfway that gave the home side possession inside the Goole 22. A following penalty for a high tackle gave Wetherby the scrum option that they took to be awarded a penalty try as Goole went backwards. To make things worse they also lost Oli Sugden who was given a yellow card for the scrum infringement. HT 14 – 12.
The second half started with the only real open rugby of the match as both teams ran the ball only to lose possession and allow the opposition to counter-attack. Disappointingly the excitement didn’t last long as the game slipped back into the lack-lustre grunt and grind of the first half. Brandon Harman was now on at scrum half, Moore at 10 and Sam Smith back in his usual centre position and things were certainly looking up for Goole at this stage as they managed to limit the number of penalties conceded thereby allowing their overall general play to get them on to the front foot. Rhys Moore dropped a goal from 30m to give them a 14 –15 lead but then almost immediately handed the lead back to Wetherby with the gift of possession on halfway and a kick and chase that was won by the home team attacker to score a try. The conversion was dubiously awarded as successful by the home team touch judge as Wetherby recaptured the lead 21-15 after just seven minutes of the second half. Back came Goole but a series of unforced errors prevented them from applying any prolonged pressure with quality play in short supply and a constant stream of penalties awarded by the referee who had to change the worn-out pea in his whistle at half time. As a result, the stop-start match had no momentum with the spectators having to endure a series of messy scrums that invariably resulted in Goole being penalised. With the Goole defence comfortably containing the home team attack, the match was still theirs to be won but the penalty infringements returned allowing Wetherby to clear and gain ground that resulted in a successful drop goal to extend their lead to 24 – 15 with 20 mins of the match remaining. Goole responded well with Tom Drury going over for a close range try following a line out with Moore’s successful conversion getting Goole to 24 – 22. Unfortunately, that was as close as they got as Wetherby finished the match in possession in the Goole half following a constant stream of penalties where they opted for yet more scrums. With no further scoring, it was another game that Goole could have won, but despite the 100% effort of the entire squad, it is just not clicking at the moment as they are being punished when errors are made and not rewarded for their good play. Hopefully this will change soon.