The home side were unsure exactly what to expect but had assumed that it would be a physical test, they were not disappointed. Several members of the Whitehall backline were bigger than the biggest Gordano forward and they looked intent on utilising their weight advantage. The opening exchanges involved Whitehall hitting their big men up through the middle before the 10 kicked for territory so they could attack from the set piece. The problem for the visitors was that despite being heavier they did not establish dominance either in the lose or the tight. For 15 minutes they were inside the Gordano half but came away with nothing other than a penalty on the right hand side which drifted wide of the mark. 20 minutes in and Gordano managed to get hold of the ball and broke well down the right hand side after a clever offload from lose head prop Fred Young put right winger Joe Harris into space - he beat his opposite man before being brought down by the fullback, the ball was recycled though and lead to a Whitehall infringement which was penalised and converted by Gordano 10 Joe Rowsell for a 3-0 lead. Gordano broke the line again in midfield when Jack Hendy attacked the gain line and passed inside to Tom Arnall who offloaded out the tackle to Mike Yandell to sprint forwards in to space, unfortunately the ball inside to Owen Abbott was blocked and the move broke down. Gordano continued to press and on 25 minutes Rowsell stretched the lead to 6 with another well struck penalty. The final 10 minutes of the half became a game of attack v defence with Whitehall peppering the Gordano line with attacks only to be stopped in their tracks again and again by some courageous tackles. They did get over the line just before the break, a double tackle creating space for a support runner who was found with a clever offload , the conversion giving Whithall the lead at half time 6-7.

It was a similar theme in the second half, Whitehall hitting it short and Gordano attempting to speed the game up and make the visitors turn. There were some notable breaks with hooker Matt Steven dummying the opposition to break clear down the middle, passing to Owen Abbott who was brought down and unable to recycle. Another string of attacks on the Whitehall line again found Abbott with a yard of space but the ball was stripped from him with the try line in sight. On 52 minutes Gordano managed to go over for a try - Ben Clarke switching with Jack Hendy who was stopped short of the line, the ball was recycled however and Lee Worgan bustled his way over the line for the try which was converted by Rowsell. The flanker then won his team a penalty by turning the ball over in the middle of the pitch, Rowsell unfortunately slipping as he kicked the ball, failing to add the 3 points. Whitehall came back into the game with a try on 60 minutes from a driven lineout, the conversion dropping short to leave the score at 13-12 with 20 minutes to play. The following 10 minutes was fairly even, Whitehall broke down the left but were stopped short of the line, Gordano created another good opportunity when Fred Young switched with Andy Peterson close to the line but the ball and the opportunity was lost. Gordano winger Josh Richards looked dangerous in open play almost breaking free on several occasions. 70 minutes in and Gordano were awarded a kickable penalty which was duly dispatched by Rowsell to give the home side a 4 point lead with 10 minutes to play this meant that Whitehall had to push for the try. The final 5 minutes was all in the Gordano 22, several penalties were awarded to the visitors but they could not find a way through even when Gordano found themselves down to 13 with Lee Worgan and Andy Peterson shown yellow cards for infringements at the breakdown. Gordano held on and relief could be felt as the final whistle was blown for a memorable victory.