Dearne welcomed Stanley Rodillians RUFC to Ings Lane at the weekend, in what was expected to be possibly their biggest test of the season so far with the visitors previously being a consistent Yorkshire 4 side. The moments before the game included a minutes silence which was perfectly observed by both the home and away teams, in a mark of respect for a recent bereavement for one of the travelling away players.

The game started off frantic with Dearne kicking off and Stanley receiving and showing their desire to play in the sunny and dry conditions. However, quick turnover ball was thrown wide to the right hand side by the Dearne backline and Ben Hartley ran in from 40 metres out to score on the touchline. Stephen Shaw missed the conversion and Dearne had an early lead 5-0.

The following 10 minutes resulted in Dearne conceding multiple infringements at the breakdown and Stanley repeatedly kicking to touch inside the Dearne half with a platform to attack from. However, both a combination of good Dearne defence and errors from Stanley led to them coming away with no points. Not long later, a good passage of play by Dearne led to Ben Hartley racing down the left hand touchline for possibly his second try of the afternoon. However, he was caught in two minds whether to go himself or pass to the supporting Sam Oxley and ultimately the chance went begging. However, Dearne were now in the ascendency.

Mid-way through the first half, a good passage of play by Dearne led to a gap opening up in the Stanley defence on their own 22 metre line and fly-half Stephen Shaw raced through it for his first try of the season. The conversion was successful and Dearne stretched their lead to 12-0. Not long later, another good period of play on the Stanley 22 metre line stressed the away teams defence once more, and this time it was Todd Bailey who raced through and beat the last standing defender to score and move Dearne further ahead. The conversion was again successful and the half time score was 19-0.

The second half started slightly scrappy to begin, with Dearne trying to extend their lead however multiple passes went to the floor and our accuracy was slightly off. With 50 minutes on the clock, Dearne thought they had another try when John Williams, having a great game in the second row, charged over in the left hand corner but ultimately was stripped of the ball and the chance went begging. The score remained 19-0 with 20 minutes left to play.

The fresh legs on the Dearne bench were now starting to prove the difference as Stanley began to fade. Multiple infringements from the away side led to good field position for Dearne and Ben Hartley attacked the blindside to run in for his second of the afternoon. The conversion went wide and Dearne now had their fourth try of the day and s 24-0 lead.

Having a quiet game on the left wing, putting in a good performance in defence but ultimately not getting much ball in hand, it looked for a moment as if winger Sam Holt would finally have a game where he did not get on the score sheet. However, as space started to appear in the opposition defensive line, the ball was passed wide and Sam Holt beat his opposite number to run in under the sticks. Andrew Thorpe converted and the final score was 31-0.

John Williams was rewarded for his strong performance both with ball in hand and in the set piece by getting Man of The Match. Following the game, Head Coach Callum Emery spoke about what it was the home side did that impressed him the most. "Besides the five tries, it is good to see our defensive discipline improve and us keep the visitors scoreless." He continued, "in attack, again it was nice to see us not panic and rush to attack the space, rather sticking to our structure and allowing the opportunities to come to us."

Dearne now return to league action, away at Mosborough next weekend.