Goole went down fighting in a tough encounter with league table topping side Wath in the semi-final of the Yorkshire Shield on Wednesday night under the new LED floodlights funded from support of the Goole Fields Wind Farms Community Fund. Whilst Goole won an earlier league game against Wath 41-24 this was a whole new challenge against a powerful Wath side that has been unbeaten since that game. Despite the midweek fixture, Goole had an almost full-strength squad and were feeling confident as they kicked off with a stiff breeze at their backs and disappointingly were not awarded an early try when the referee adjudged a bouncing ball to have gone forward with the try line beckoning. With possession it was then Wath’s turn to show their quality with numerous phases aided by Goole penalty infringements that saw them take the lead with a catch and drive from a 5m lineout, 0-5. Goole opened their scoring with a penalty from the returning Rhys Moore and narrowly missed another attempt before applying pressure on the Wath try line that saw a defender yellow carded and Wath fortunate not to give away a penalty try. However, the respite didn’t last long as Will Townend powered over in the corner from a 5m scrum, with an impressive conversion from Moore to bring the score to 10-3 after 25 minutes of the first half. Disappointingly for Goole, that was as good as it got for the remainder of the first half as Wath dominated both possession and territory despite playing into the strong breeze. Wath taking the half time lead with three impressive tries including one penalty try that resulted in a second yellow card for the Goole defender for knocking on a try scoring pass. HT 10 – 22.
With the stiff breeze now in Wath’s favour there was a fear of a heavy defeat for Goole but to their credit, they dug deep to put in a committed second half performance as they endeavoured to match Wath’s physical approach to the game. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop Wath scoring another try from a well-rehearsed 5m catch and drive to extend their lead to 10-27. The Goole squad of players then entered their best period of the match with excellent ball retention and hard-earned territory gains that saw Dec Cook break through the Wath defence for an excellent try. Wath then felt the need to kick a penalty to protect their lead in response to Goole’s good passage of play, as the gap closed to 20-30 following Goole’s third try from Aaron Jerry-Murray mid-way through the second half. Wath’s response was immediate and effective as their powerful Man of the Match No 8 once again broke through the Goole defensive line as Wath secured the game with a sixth try and the final score of the match. Goole maintained their efforts till the final whistle but in the end, the best team on the day won the contest with Wath’s all-round strength and power, especially at the breakdown being the dominating factor that resulted in regular profitable visits into the Goole Red Zone.