Dearne Valley RUFC have one hand firmly on the league title following a resounding 74-15 bonus point victory over Wortley RUFC last Saturday. The tries came from Jacob Mangham (3), Arron Kite (2), Callum Emery, Sam Holt, Anthony Kenney, Andrew Thorpe, Ben Hartley, Todd Bailey, and Stephen Shaw. Shaw also kicked seven conversions from the tee as the men in black cemented their place at the top of the Yorkshire Counties Division Four league table.

Straight from the kick off, Dearne showed their intent when they launched a strike play from their first lineout in Wortley territory which Jacob Mangham finished off two phases later. Shaw converted and the away side had an early 7-0 advantage. Not long later, turnover ball in the Dearne half saw the ball shipped to the left hand touchline for winger Sam Holt to run the length of the field. 12-0 with only 10 minutes played. Wortley had multiple phases of attack and possession within the Dearne half over the next 5-10 minutes, partly thanks to Dearne giving some unnecessary penalties away. However, he defence held strong and not long later they found themselves back up the Wortley end of the pitch. Good ball from the Dearne lineout launched Arron Kite to hit the ball up the middle of the park. However, he did more than that by fending off three Wortley defenders to run in under the sticks. Shaw converted and the score was 19-0 with 20 minutes gone.

Dearne were playing clinical rugby, with smart exiting kicks from the resulting Wortley restart again giving them territory and possession in the home sides half. A Wortley scrum on the 22m line was turned over an Adam Cooke fended off multiple defenders from the next passage of play to take the ball up to within 10 metres of the Wortley try line. Rather than taking the ball to ground, he offloaded in the tackle to the supporting Callum Emery who beat the final defender to score Dearne's bonus point try of the afternoon. Shaw missed the extras and with 15 minutes left to go until half time Dearne had wrapped up the bonus point with a 24-0 lead. From the Wortley restart it was service as usual as again Dearne exited through the boot of Emery, with Holt, Mangham, and Hartley all putting defensive pressure on the Wortley backfield players as they retrieved the clearing kick. Wortley, in an effort to clear their lines, were charged down and the ball fell into Arron Kite's hands who ran in for his second of the afternoon.

Dearne still managed to grab another three tries before half time in the form of Todd Bailey, Ben Hartley, and Tony Kenney who all finished off well worked team tries from either set piece territory in the Wortley half or turnover ball in the Dearne half. The half time score was 44-0 to the away side.

Dearne ran the changes at half time with Eagle coming in at number 10 and Emery shifting to 13. Williams came on in the second row for Kenney and Luke Robinson came onto the wing for Jack Duggan. Initially, the change in formation/positions meant Dearne became a little unorganised and took time to adapt, Wortley pouncing on the away sides disorganised defence and running in three uncoverted tries in the second half. However, Dearne still managed to score a few of their own to increase their points difference tally on the league table.

Wortley's attempt to clear their half fell straight into Emery's hands who drew the opposition player before passing to Shaw to run in to the right hand corner. Not long later, John Williams caught the ball from the resulting kick off before beating four opposition players and running nearly the length of the pitch before a last minute tackle forced him to offload to the supporting Andrew Thorpe. Jacob Mangham also scored two further tries to round off his hat-trick for the afternoon. The first was a short dive over the tryline following a scrum in the centre of the field and an offload off the deck from Luke Robinson who was tackled short of the line, and the second from collecting a grubber kick deep into the Wortley 22 to again dot over from close range.

Wortley had multiple periods of sustained pressure in the second half and deservedly scored their three tries, however a lack of substitutions and clear fatigue setting in, their efforts were spirited but were ultimately not going to change the result following a disappointing first half. The final score 74-15 to the away side.

"First of all a big thank you to Wortley for their efforts today and for ensuring all the boys got a game of Rugby" said Head Coach Callum Emery. "A lot of teams would've simply given a walkover win when numbers begin to drop low and weve had a few of those already this year which are a big kick in the teeth for lads who just want game time so their efforts to get the game going and put up a fight are massively appreciated and we look forward to welcoming them to our place in March for Sponsors Day".

Following the game, Ben Hartley spoke of his excitement for the weeks ahead now Dearne have one hand on promotion. "We are now 16 points clear and if we can get a win in our next game that should be promotion pretty much wrapped up which is just what this team deserves after their efforts this season". He continued, "we have some big dates coming up with Sponsors Day planned for 22nd March, another away game against Sheffield Medics which is sure to be a tough game, and of course our first chance to secure promotion at home next weekend against Knottingley so I just hope our supporters continue to show up and we get good support at all our games to see what has been a great season off to a positive finish".

Dearne will face Knottingley RUFC at home this coming weekend, Saturday 15th February, where a bonus point victory will secure promotion to Yorkshire 3 and the league title. We hope all our supporters can join us to cheer the lads on. Team news and more updates to follow this week, stay tuned.