Dearne Valley RUFC, a club and a team that did not exist 9 months ago, ensured they finished their inaugural season on a high and maintained their undefeated league record against a strong Dinnington RUFC.

In front of easily the largest crowd of the season, largely due to the fact it was a sunny bank holiday and sponsors day, Dearne started the game brightly with a string on attacking opportunities in the Dinnington half. Within the first few minutes, a wrap around backs move lead to a two-on-one down the right hand side however the final pass to winger Luke Robinson didn't quite make it to hand and the scores remained 0-0. However, it wasn't long until Dearne found themselves in the Dinnington half again and a wave of attacking phases led to Todd Bailey crashing over out wide for the opening score of the afternoon. Stephen Shaw was successful with the tough conversion from the touchline and Dearne led 7-0 with 10 minutes gone.

Dearne picked up where they left off from the kick off, with Stephen Shaw smartly kicking to space behind the Dinnington defensive line and constantly putting Dinnington under pressure and forcing mistakes. A scrum in the Dinnington half game Dearne a platform to attack from and again they found success out wide this time through Luke Robinson after his earlier near miss. Stephen Shaw again struck successful with the touchline conversion and the score was 14-0 within 20 minutes.

Things were about to get a lot tougher for the home side though with a clear indication that things wouldn't all be going their way on this sunny afternoon. Dinnington had an attacking scrum in the Dearne 22 and their centre struck through the middle of the Dearne defence to make his way towards the home sides tryline. However, a last ditch attempt to tackle by fullback Jack Duggan resulted in head-on-head contact and Dinnington spilling the ball. Besides the cheers from the crowd for an heroic effort, the referee deemed that the Dearne players attempt to tackle was a high degree of danger and showed him a red card meaning Dearne would now be playing 60 minutes with 14 men. Strangely, however, the referee did not award a penalty try. Besides this, from the resulting Dinnington penalty a smart crossfield kick caught Dearne napping and Dinnington scored their opener of the afternoon to take the scores to 14-5.

From the kick off, Dearne remained smart with their attacking and defensive display, adapting to the one man deficit smartly. A big carry down the centre of the pitch by Callum Young from half way brought Dearne into the opposition 22 and the ball was again shipped wide for Will Hudson to finish off in the corner. Stephen Shaw again nailed the touchline conversion to extend the lead to 21-5 with 10 minutes of the opening half remaining. Dearne were now finding great success out wide against the Dinnington opposition. Just before the half time whistle they found themselves again making good yards before John Williams, captain for the day, made a strong carry and fended of the clutching tackles of the last 4 defenders to crash over in the left hand corner. Stephen Shaw, clearly confident with the kicking tee today, slotted the touchline conversion to make it 4 tough conversions from 4 and extend the home sides advantage at half time to 28-5.

A raft of changes were made at half time and this clearly disrupted the rhythm of the home side initially in the first half. A string of penalties meant Charlie Higgins was sent to the sin bin and Dearne were now playing with 13 men for the next 10 minutes. Dearne managed to sneak another try through Ben Hartley which was again converted by Stephen Shaw to make it 35-5. However, this would be the last Dearne success for the next 15 minutes as Dinnington made the extra man advantage count and scored a brace of tries to take the score to 35-19. Dearne managed to finish the game on a high and grab a further two tries through Joe Patterson and Danny Bell of which were unconverted to extend the lead to 45-19 before the referee brought the game to a close with the final whistle. Clearly, the home side began to tire in the final quarter of the game playing with a man less than their opposition resulting in them conceding some soft tries however they still managed to clinch the second half 17-14 and ensure they finished their season with a commanding 45-19 victory.

The sponsors who attended on the day chose the Man of The Match and decided that Stephen Shaw was deserving of the award, and rightfully so with a solid kicking performance in windy conditions as well as a calm and composed performance controlling the game at fly half. However, notable mention must go to number 8 Luke Christmas and stand in captain for the day John Williams who both put in stand out performances.

After the game, Head Coach Callum Emery spoke of his delight at how the day, and the season, had gone. "We started off 8-9 months ago with 4 lads rocking up to training, unsure of whether this would take off or whether it was just a bit of a drunken idea. Yet you now fast forward and less than a year later we are undefeated in our first league season, have over 40 registered players all of which could compete for a starting spot each week, and have a great relationship with our hosts Dearne Valley Bulldogs." He continued, "around 18 of the lads had never even played Union before, yet they now form the foundation of our squad. We are under no illusion as to the task that faces us next season in Yorkshire 4 but this hard working group will definitely be up for the challenge and we have lots of untapped potential of which we hope to dive into in our first full pre-season together."

A big thank you to those who came on Saturday and cheered the lads on, as well as supported the club in the bar/kitchen throughout the day! We would also like to extend our thanks to our sponsors. Keep your eyes peeled for club updates throughout the off-season as the team build into their first season in Yorkshire 4.

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