Dearne Valley RUFC kicked off their 2024/25 season with a home victory against Wortley RUFC in wet and slippery conditions. In what was a much anticipated game following a frustrating pre-season where the Dearne men were unable to arrange a pre-season friendly, they knew that the opening game would likely be one of frustration and 'trial and error' as a side mixed with new arrivals and last seasons star men took to the field against a much improved Wortley.

Straight from the kick off, it was clear Dearne were rusty and lacked match sharpness as they failed to collect the Wortley kick on multiple attempts, by multiple players. Eventually the ball was scrambled up but again the pass from debutant scrum-half Alex Roebuck was fumbled by fly half Stephen Shaw. Eventually, Dearne managed to clear their lines but a penalty conceded on the 10 metre line gave Wortley the chance to kick off the scoring. However, the penalty fell short and the score remained 0-0.

It was clear to see that when Dearne composed themselves and retained possession, they could cause Wortley problems. However, multiple attacking phases were cut short by a forced offload or players spilling away possession cheaply. On the 15 minute mark, a turnover lineout on the Wortley 10 metre line gave Dearne possession. Christmas, returning to the lineup where he left off last year at number 8, carried well before the ball was shipped wide by Roebuck to find the charging Mangham on the left wing. He was another debutant out to impress. Now making yards into the Wortley 22 metre line and quick recycling of ball resulted in second row Callum Young charging over from close range for the opening try of the game and to open Dearne's account for the 2024-25 season. Shaw converted to make the score 7-0 with 15 minutes played.

From the Wortley re-start, Dearne again failed to effectively exit from their own half. A good passage of multi-phase by Wortley forced the Dearne penalty; one of many this afternoon, and the Wortley fly-half converted the 3 points to close the gap to within 4 points with 20 minutes played. Dearne now began to find some more rhythm in attack as they blew off the cobwebs. A penalty attempt outside the Wortley 22 metre line on the right hand side gave Dearne a chance to immediately reply. However, Shaw stabbed the conversion wide and the score remained 7-3.

On 25 minutes, again a Wortley lineout was turned over and Andrew Thorpe, making his first start at second row, charged forward making over 30 metres with a strong carry. The ball was quickly shipped to the left hand wing as Luke Christmas and Arron Kite combined to feed the ball to Mangham. He not only managed to evade the covering 3 defenders but then also managed to step back inside off the touchline and charge in near the left hand post from 25 metres out in what will likely be a contender for try of the season come April next year. Shaw missed the extras but the score was now 12-3 to the hosts.

Not long after, Wortley again put multiple phases of pressure together inside the Dearne half. Their fly half attempted a cross field kick which was charged down by vice captain Ben Hartley. He immediately collected the bouncing ball and ran 60 metres only to be took down by the covering Wortley fullback 5 metres out. He was well supported by Arron Kite who secured the ball at the ruck for Roebuck to feed tight head Ant Hamilton who calmly drew the man before passing to Sam Oxley to charge over for the third try of the afternoon. Shaw converted to take the lead to 16 points. Not long later the half time whistle came with the score 19-3 to the hosts.

At half time, the key message was to keep our discipline as clearly the home side had fell on the wrong side of the referee and were now on final warnings for consistently fouling at the ruck as well as being offside in defence. From the re-start Dearne showed signs of improvement. Multiple entries into the Wortley half however were again cut short by conceding penalties at the breakdown. Eventually however, turnover scrum ball resulted in positive position to attack. The ball was passed through the hands to the left hand touchline, via an instinctive 'through the legs' pass by the skilful number 8 Christmas. Mangham found himself on the end of this passage of play and again made territory into the Wortley 22 before Shaw made a half break before drawing the final man and passing to substitute John Williams to crash over for the bonus point try. Shaw converted to extend the lead to 26-3.

The remainder of the game was frustrating for the home side. Eventually the referee lost patience with the amount of penalties and Roebuck unfortunately found himself next in line to be caught off side and was punished with a yellow card for the infringement. Wortley capitalised on the extra man and scored out wide and deservedly so. The conversion was missed and the score was 26-8 with 10 minutes remaining.

Roebuck returned from the sin-bin and his presence was immediately shown with quick ball at the ruck delivering Dearne further opportunities to attack. A lineout on the Wortley 22 metre line was fed through the hands to Arron Kite who made another one of his many strong carries over the gainline. Fast ball was recycled to Shaw who passed through the hands to Oxley who drew the man and fed substitute winger Robinson to slide over in the right hand side for the final score, and final play of the afternoon. The conversion was missed and the referee blew the final whistle with the scoreline 31-8.

"We are delighted to kick the season off with a bonus point victory at home to a much improved Wortley side, however the performance was incredibly frustrating and our discipline just was not good enough" said Head Coach Callum Emery. "We said at half time that we wanted to avoid bringing the referee into the game and simply leave the breakdown alone but again some individuals failed to follow this task and we couldn't get any continuity in our attack due to the amount of penalties we conceded." He continued, "We lost our first choice hooker, Will Adams, to a nasty looking wrist fracture early on which resulted in a pack re-shuffle and he now joins an ever growing list of long term injuries we are having to manage such early on in the season which is frustrating but we wish him the best. However, to get a bonus point victory and still walk off the field knowing we have much to improve on is not a bad position to be in."

Dearne continue their league season against Maltby RUFC next weekend. Keep up to date with all the team news, captain and coach interviews, as well as match highlights across our social media platforms.

STARTING XV
1-Alex Mincher
2-Will Adams
3-Ant Hamilton*
4-Callum Young
5-Andrew Thorpe
6-Todd Bailey (C)
7-Charles Higgins
8-Luke Christmas
9-Alex Roebuck*
10-Stephen Shaw
11-Jacob Mangham*
12-Ben Hartley (VC)
13-Arron Kite*
14-Jack Duggan
15-Sam Oxley

FINISHERS
16-Jonny Horrobin
17-John Williams
18-Jacob Bradder
19-Kai Garrett*
20-Luke Robinson

*Debutant