AN excellent defensive performance by Wensleydale was not enough to take two points from last Saturday's trip to Ponteland.

With a car breaking down on the way to the game, the preparation was poor and kicking off 15 minutes late on a rain sodden pitch against a top four team had all the hallmarks of a bad day for Dale.

Ponteland stormed into Dale's defence from the start and laid siege to their 22.

Ferocious defence kept them at bay, but once Ponteland kicked a penalty after five minutes the floodgates threatened to open.

To their credit Dale halted the tide, twice on their own line, and once Russell Cannell got his hands on the ball a chink in Ponteland's armour shone through.

Cannell sprinted out of his half, past two defenders, but ran out of support when confronted by the last line of defence.

The game continued in the same vein, with superb tackling in the centre by Richard Pearson and good covering by Nathan Cannell at full back.

The 3-0 scoreline at half-time was a triumph for Dale and Ponteland must have been concerned that they had not scored more points considering the amount of ball they enjoyed.

They were equally dominant in the second half, but for another ten minutes Dale were still fighting.

A sweeping move left Dale stretched and when a tap penalty was taken quickly, Ponteland scored in the corner.

Still Dale were in with a chance, but a poor decision by the referee led to a clearance kick being charged down and Ponteland kicked the conversion to move into a 17-0 lead.

Wensleydale did get some reward for their efforts with five minutes to go.

Ponteland attempted to run the ball on Dale's 22, but were hounded by Pearson.

The home side dropped the ball and it was hacked up field, where Jim Chapman got ahead of the defence, picked the ball up off his toes and crashed over from 15 metres.

This completed a 17-5 defeat, but left Wensleydale with a lot of heart.

Tomorrow, Dale travel to Knottingley in the second round of the Yorkshire Silver Trophy.