Tim Fourie's Sedgley Park side got their first game of the new season under their belts, and an interesting one it was too.
Playing four, 20-minute periods, to allow both sides to chop and change, the Tigers looked dangerous when throwing the ball wide and solid when progressing down the middle, although set-pieces were predictably haphazard, particularly under the high ball from re-starts and at the lineouts.
The lively home side, whose pre-game warm-up consisted of a high octane, no-holds-barred full contact session, managed to maintain a high tempo throughout.
Indeed, the Dalesmen took the lead on 19 minutes when they drove the ball towards the posts from a five-man scrum and managed to barge over, the easy conversion giving them a 7-0 lead.
Within minutes the Tigers replied. After gaining possession shortly after the re-start the ball was worked downfield and from 20 metres out playmaker Phil Jones ran the diagonal from left to right, baffling the home defence with at least three dummy passes before ghosting over by the right corner flag. Unfortunately he was unable to add the conversion.
Four minutes later the Tigers grabbed the lead when an impressive passing move down the left touchline ended with Roko going over in the corner. Jones again missed the kick but the visitors had a 7-10 lead.
Ten minutes into the second quarter an imposing carry by the rejuvenated Arno de Jager drew the defence before he offloaded inside to another debutant, Joe Knowles, who went in between the posts to give de Jager an easy two pointer.
The home side pulled another converted try back before a galloping drive down centre field by Ian Voortman created room for supporting runner Naulivu, and the South African's outside pass to the Fijian saw him skip over in the corner to make it 14-22.
A few minutes later it was Voortman who took a pass on the fly, using his angled run to dissect the home defence for the Tigers' fourth try.
The only score in the penultimate period was a converted try by Wharfdale, which made the score 21-27.
The final 20 minutes saw both sides begin to tire, with the Dalesmen exploiting gaps in the Tigers' defence to clam a fourth try, unconverted, taking the score to 26-27.
l The Tigers travel to Heywood Road, Sale, tonight for another friendly against a Sharks XV, kick-off 7.30pm.
SEDGLEY PARK: de Jager, Roko, Craig, O'Hare, Knowles, Jones, Wilkinson, Gazzola, Roddam, Norris, Voortman, Naulivu, Newton, Jope, Roberts, Keys, Evans, Swart, Redfearn, Livesey, T. Albinson, Bennett, Kohler, Briers.
PETER COLLINS
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