Blaydon 36, Ilkley 18
Blaydon 36 – 18 Ilkley
The win sees Blaydon still in second place behind Billingham. Next week we travel to Cumbria to take on Kirkby Lonsdale with a 2.15.p.m. kick off.
1st Team Match Reports
Blaydon 36 – 18 Ilkley
The win sees Blaydon still in second place behind Billingham. Next week we travel to Cumbria to take on Kirkby Lonsdale with a 2.15.p.m. kick off.
🔴⚫️ Match Report 🔴⚫️ Morpeth 12 – 34 Blaydon
Paying their first visit to Mitford Road for 20 years a well drilled Blaydon side aided by a large following support came away with another 5 point victory despite going behind in the opening 2 mins following a messy first scrum which saw the referee award Morpeth a penalty try.
Not to be dismayed, the visitors immediately went up field and following a couple of darts up the middle, the ball was passed to James Cooney who beat off two tacklers and ran in from 15 metres to score a fine try which Ryan Foreman added the first of his 3 conversions. At this stage the home pack was dominating proceedings and a missed Blaydon tackle in the centre (the only one of the game) saw Captain Carl Hill put the home side 5 points up after 20 minutes. However, at this stage with Captain Jack Davidson and Harry Borthwick coming to the fore, Blaydon began to stretch the home defence and firstly Cam Bell was driven over and then Davidson himself with the help of his dominant pack. Neither try was converted with one conversion hitting the post but now in the lead, Blaydon never looked like being overtaken.
After the interval, despite winning good possession, the home side made poor use and Blaydon utilized the ball well and with their backs continually stretching the home defence, they were completely in charge and following another turnover on the half way line, good hands saw Dan Marshall break through once more, drawing the home full back and giving unselfishly Harry Borthwick a run in between the posts for another 7 pointer. The introduction of substitute Jack Appleton on the hour saw Blaydon inject speed on the wing and following his first touch of the ball, he ran strongly and cleverly kicked over the opposition for Marshall to gather the bouncing ball and widen the gap with a fine try which was duly converted by Foreman.
With Blaydon running down the clock, the home side, lacking possession, were unable to get field advantage and once again Blaydon’s backs swept upfield and were awarded an easy penalty in front of the posts which Foreman added 3 points.
The satisfying result sees Blaydon consolidate second place in the table and next week they have a home game kicking off at 2.15.p.m. against bottom club Ilkley who despite some close results, have only won 1 game this season and have a points differential of 127 – 274, the highest in the league.
Jim Huxley
Blaydon 38–26 Sandal
After an eventful journey down which saw us stopped at Wetherby Services by the police looking for attendees at a racial demonstration in Dewsbury and then being held up for 15 minutes on the M62 with traffic problems and roadworks, we eventually arrived at our destination to find perfect conditions for running rugby.
Following last week’s defeat to Billingham, we made several changes due to players returning after injury and unavailability. The game began with 10 minutes of Blaydon pressure but failure to finish off saw the scoreline blank and then on their first visit to the Blaydon half, a second good handling movement saw No. 7 Rob Bramhall brush off two tackles for a try which influential flyhalf Lewis Allen added the extras.
However, Blaydon immediately counter-attacked and further pressure saw good hands and Jack Davidson put in Jack Appleton for an unconverted try. At this time the game was end to end and the scoreline changed rapidly with Rossendale looking better than their league position and penalties by both sides saw the scoreline move on before full back Brad Cave put the home side into a 7 point lead. The game continued with Blaydon backs still dominating and No 8 Harry Borthwick finished off a good move to reduce the lead and Jordan Carey converted and then added a further penalty to see Blaydon 23 – 15 up at the break.
After the interval, the home side attacked and Allen scored a second penalty and Bramhall’s second try saw the scores level on the hour but at this stage the home side forwards began to tire and they struggled to repel Blaydon’s slick handling. Blaydon began to take territorial advantage and with 15 minutes to go a converted try by Freddy Lockwood again saw Blaydon go clear and the game finished with Blaydon cleverly running down the clock by forward domination and coming away with an excellent 5 points.
Jim Huxle
We were losing 19-22 and pressing with 2 mins to go. Awarded a penalty 20m out Billingham went for a scrum and not a line out which they may have lost. With the ball up their jumpers, they then repeatedly recycled until seconds from time when we were awarded a penalty – this raised the temperature more than somewhat.
Our 5 m line out then led to 20+ drives at their line without success until awarded another penalty, a quick kick to the opposite wing then started the whole cycle all over again.
Spectators and players were then given a very necessary breather with an injury (the whole affair was more than a bit exciting by this stage) but there was more to come
Back to the original corner, this time with most of the backs joining in time after time until – you guessed a penalty for not releasing brought affairs to an end, many minutes over the 80, at 19-22
Possibly the best match at Crow Trees for a year or two with both teams exchanging the lead on several occasions. Billingham will be a threat to most teams and some of their attacking play was powerful and extremely original matched by the best defensive display seen at Blaydon for some time.
Blaydon now have several players who would get on to most teams in this league. Harry Borthwick was outstanding at No8 while Keith Laughlin wasn’t far behind.
The league seems to be settling down already with Billingham, Harrogate and Blaydon looking likely to be thereabouts by the end of the year
Rossendale away next week.
We undertook our longest trip of the season and after a highly competitive game, came away with a narrow victory seeing us move up into second place in the table with leaders Harrogate having their game cancelled at Carlisle due to floodwater.
The game began with the Blaydon backs looking sharp and it came as no surprise when after twelve minutes winger Jack Appleton finished off in the corner for an unconverted try. However, whilst in control of lineouts the home pack were proving a handful and a yellow card midway through the half to Jack Davison saw us down to 14 men for ten minutes. It was during this period that the home side went in front when after a period of good possession, their wing forward Robbie Pearl touched down wide out for Craig Henry to convert. The home side retained their lead but immediately after the interval Blaydon scored a fine try when a three-quarter movement was finished off near the posts by second row Fred Lockwood, a late replacement for Keith Laughlin who withdrew from the game two hour before kick-off. This try was converted by Nathan Horsfall.
Despite now dominating exchanges and looking good in mid-field, Blaydon failed to make use of their possession and an unconverted try by home centre Craig Harvey brought them level after 46 minutes. During this period Wirral were on top and ten minutes later the same player added a penalty when Blaydon strayed offside. However with 20 minutes to go Blaydon finally got on top, Harry Borthwick finishing off another three quarter movement when he touched down near the posts for Horsfall to again add the points. This score then brought the home side to life and Blaydon defended admirably during the last ten minutes and with the game nearly finished and entering its last minute, a home player was badly injured and it took 15 minutes to remove him from the field of play. The game resumed with a penalty to the home side who kicked for the corner needing a try to claim victory. Five minutes of extra time saw Blaydon defending and repulsing home attacks. During this period we were penalised three times and on each occasion the home side went for the line-out and the pattern continued until the home side got over the line but Blaydon’s defence held them up and the referee blew time to conclude a very even contest.
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Jim Huxley
Hopes of a bounce-back to National League 2 North for Blaydon were effectively scuppered in the opening 40 minutes of this play-off for promotion when the home side, playing against the elements, ran in 3 tries unanswered.
Luctonians on the day made better use of the conditions and with crisper handling and running were deserved winners, Blaydon only coming into it in the final quarter with 2 tries of their own.
Blaydon started well enough but 10 minutes of pressure brought no reward and when they dropped the ball on half-way were immediately made to pay. Man of the match Josh Watkins, the Luctonians full-back, sped clear down the wing for the first of his 2 tries and fly-half Lewis Silver added the conversion to make it 7-0.
When Blaydon erred as they had for the opening score Watkins was in again, this time from a smart diagonal break and on 35 minutes quick handling by the home side resulted in try No3 from winger Drew Cheshire with Silver once more on target.
With the interval approaching Blaydon finally got their side of the score-board moving having worked their way upfield for Jamie Guy to put over a penalty and make it 19-3 at the break.
Sadly the interval brought no relief for the visitors with Luctonians continuing as they had left off with 2 more tries in the opening 15 minutes of the second period. Their hooker Guy Kirby crossed near the posts from a forward drive and winger John Morris also touched down under the woodwork from an excellent handling movement with Silver landing a 3rd conversion to make it 31-3 with 20 minutes remaining.
Having been on the back foot for much of the previous 60 minutes Blaydon at last began to dominate the forward exchanges and salvage some pride. Five minutes of persistent pressure in the home 22, led in style by skipper Keith Laughlin, brought an opening score for centre Alex Clark plus the extras from Guy.
It was now the turn of the home side to be on the back foot and unable to cope with the power of the opposition forwards, and Blaydon at least had the consolation of finishing strongly and securing a second try when Guy went over from a breakdown and added the conversion himself.
John Brennan