Blaydon 25 – Esher 35

[match id=89]

Looking back to last weeks game at Tynedale it was a case of deja vu for Blaydon with them having to weather a tremendous storm in the opening quarter then fighting back to finish the stronger only to lose out in the end.

They led on 17 minutes, half-time and again on 50 minutes but then some poor play and errors saw them concede 3 tries in a 10 minute spell, particularly a poor clearance that was charged down.

A disappointed Director of Rugby, Micky Ward, felt the final score was not a true reflection on the game, saying “We put some great stuff together at times and I thought we were in control in the second half until we had a silly 5 minutes when they scored a couple of tries”.

They could have been 2 tries down in the opening 5 minutes but just held on despite Nathan Bailey being yellow-carded on his own line, and then led by 2 Andrew Baggett penalties to 1 from Luke Daniels.

Esher went ahead with a Pat O’Grady try but right on the interval Tom Bramwell, a replacement for Tom Penny, collected a loose ball and stormed over to make it 13-10 at the break.

Daniels levelled with a penalty but Blaydon were back in front when they spoiled the visitors line-out ball and Tom Banks scampered over beneath the posts.

And then it all went wrong. In no time at all they conceded a short scrum to let in Andrew Wright, failed to hold elusive winger Spencer Sutherland down the left, and gifted a third to Stewart Maguire.

Good work by the pack at two successive line-outs from penalties brought reward for Robert Bell to take Blaydon into a score that would have given them a deserved losing bonus point, only to be denied in the final play when Wright grabbed another try for the visitors.

Micky Ward was by no means despondent however, saying “We’re starting to play some really good rugby. It’s tough to take but you have to remain positive”.

John Brennan