Hooker Dan gets game on with his harrow

TWO penalties from Tom Barrett gave Wharfedale victory in this battle of the basement and it was enough for Dale to swap places with Sheffield, who are now bottom.

Wharfedale hooker Dan Stockdale was instrumental in the match going ahead as he brought his chain harrow and spent two hours in the morning breaking up the frozen snow. A host of volunteers then cleared the lines and got the blue paint down.

Both sides attempted to play good rugby on a difficult surface and the officials played their part in a fast-moving game.

Dale had the edge at the set-piece and this allowed them to get better field position than their visitors.

It was a credit to Sheffield that it took Wharfedale 24 minutes to score – and it took a brilliant move to break the deadlock. A Sheffield clearance was run back by Charlie Graham, who fed Robbie Davidson. Kieran Frost then rampaged into the Sheffield 22 before handing the scoring pass to Josh Burridge. Barrett was wide with the conversion.

Stephen Depledge responded with a penalty for Sheffield before halftime.

Sheffield took the lead with a converted Sam Graham try after they had battered the Dale line.

Dan Stockdale was driven over for an unconverted Dale try to level the scores, before Barrett’s two penalties gave Dale the win.