Wath 38 vs Barnsley 15

WATH 38 BARNSLEY 15
This first local derby of the season confirmed the good start that Wath have made this season, contrasting with Barnsley’s struggle to make inroads in Yorkshire 1. The home side enjoyed the width of their new pitch and fizzed the ball along the line while Barnsley were pedestrian in contrast. Barnsley’s young side battled well against some very experienced and skilful Wath lads, but in the end the home side were comfortable winners.
Wath are well served by a big pack, led by Matt Burrows, and they run onto passes at speed, back each other up and make good ground. Barnsley defended well against this onslaught for 20 minutes, with better tackling than was apparent last week, especially from Smiggs and Buckingham. After several good breaks by Wath backs and forwards it was Burrows who drove over to open the scoring, and Wath held the initiative from then on. To add to Barnsley woes there were further injuries early in the game to Jack Iles, Adam Smith and Scott Hinchcliffe, all of whom had to be replaced, and several other players  needed treatment. Wath continued to press and some poor tackling led to a second score before half time. Josh Smith claimed a superb long range penalty just before half time to give a half time score of 14-3
The second half saw little of Barnsley’s famed comeback against the same opposition last season. Possession was dominated by the home side who ran powerfully, crossing the gain line repeatedly. For Barnsley there were individual charges into the Wath defence, but at too slow a pace and without back up. By late in the second half, Wath had scored their bonus point try and were 35 – 3 ahead. Barnsley were not helped by a yellow card for Norris, which was hard to explain from the sideline, but this was not the reason for Wath’s supremacy. The home side took full advantage of their glut of possession, and overall Barnsley defended well, though at key moments missed tackles were costly.
At the end a late flurry, led by a silky ruin from Buckingham, a charge by robinson and some good work by the pack saw Todd Cheetham score a good try, soon followed by another for Josh Smith when Robinson’s persistent chasing of the ball gave him the chance to go over under the posts to leave the score at 38-15. The last word went to Wath with a penalty at the death to leave Barnsley with much to think about before another hard game next week against Driffield.