Sandal needed to gain a bonus point against Wath to secure their place at the top of the Championship South league and secure their promotion. This was achieved with Sandal gaining a good 26 to 10 win against Wath and getting the bonus point for four tries.

The weather was dry but a strong Westerly wind across the pitch made passing difficult. Wath were a hard fast side, who credit to them, have fostered a strong link with the British army and accommodate seven talented Fijian recruits in their team. Despite that, the early threats from Wath were well dealt with by George Hulme scrum half and Greg Wood at 10 who linked together well for Wood to kick up the slope into touch which relieved the Wath attacks.

Also great tackles by the Sandal back row of Tom Knapton, Nick Carolan and Taylor Garwood kept Wath from scoring in the early stages.
Sandal's first try came from a break by Wood who off loaded to Carolan who did a run round with center Seckham, skipper Knowles received the ball made good ground and passed to Garwood who passed inside to speedy winger Cam Lees to score in the corner. 15 minutes gone 7 -0 to Sandal with Jacob Barlow getting the conversion.

The half continued with Sandal battling against hard runs and drives by the bigger Wath side but managed to stop any scores with excellent defence.

15 minutes into the second half following a good run by winger Suffy who was stopped with a high tackle. A possible red card against Wath was averted by Sandal who protested too strongly to the referee who reduced the red to a yellow and gave Wath the penalty kick. A lesson in discipline for Sandal.

Following Wath's kick and lineout, Sandal won the ball and Skipper Knowles made an excellent break passing to second row Jon Guy, who always supports excellently, he passed to winger Cam Lees who sprinted 20 meters to score his second try 14- 0 to Sandal with Wood getting the conversion.

In the 20th minute Sandal were moving the ball well. Nick Carolan made a break on the Wath 10 meter line he off loaded to Wood who spun the ball wide to the right to star center Scott Seckham who gave a great pass to Mike Coopey who scored an excellent try in the corner. 19 - 0 to Sandal.

Sandal's final try came from power winger Charlie Beany following a scrum kick chase from Sandals 22, the interpassing that followed from the half way was excellent and went through 8 pairs of hands and finally to Beany who made the very impressive score. Wood got the conversion. 26- 0 to Sandal.

5 minutes remaining and Sandal took their foot off the defensive pedal and allowed the speedy Wath side to run fast tries into both corners right then left. This made the final score 26-10.

The score could have been greater for Sandal if in the first half when the forwards were battering on the Wath try line against bigger opposition for 8 minutes, alas to no avail. Had they spun the ball out to the waiting overlap the score would have been their. Communication is key.

Overall a good game and result, played in testing conditions and securing Sandal at the top of their league.

A rest day for Sandal seconds next week but Sandal first, third & Socials teams all playing at home.