Houghton-Le-Spring 34 v Blaydon Spartans 22 by Nicholas Eatch SR-News November 5th 2021

 

Photos: CLICK HERE! 

 

A very windy day saw Blaydon go down despite a spirited fight back in the second half by twelve points.

 

Whether the walk to the far pitch sapped early strength from Blaydon was debatable, but certainly a string of early penalties – three in the first five minutes – and playing against the wind, saw the Spartans under massive early pressure.

 

This lack of discipline was compounded by a series of missed tackles that saw Houghton open the scoring. A fact not lost on Blaydon prop Chris Davison who reinforced the need for tackle bags in the warm up at the next fixture.

 

However, despite the opening run of play Blaydon bounced back when Davison smashed through two Houghton defenders and Joe Jenkins – who was arguably Blaydon’s man-of-the-match, as well as young colts Luke and Max with Luke going on marauding runs throughout the game as did Max. The two young guns would both be rewarded with tries.

 

Spartans captain James Murray, 26, slotted home the conversion from the Jenkins try. It was a great kick, with a deal of class in the boot against the wind, putting Blaydon into the lead 5 to 7.

 

This unfortunately for Blaydon’s fans would be the last time they would hold the lead.

 

After 17 minutes the opposition again broke through a weak Blaydon D, when one of their experienced players, cheered on by his windswept son and wife –  who was holding onto her skirt for dear life from the sidelines, went over. Their MOM, playing at ten, duly slotted over to make it 12 to 7 to Houghton.

 

Shell-shocked from that defensive  breech the opposition then quickly went over again, this time after five Blaydon missed tackles. The conversion saw then stretch their lead to 19 points to 7.

 

Blaydon were unfortunate not to reduce the deficit when young colt Luke playing 8 and in only his second senior game made a great run with some intuitive  off-loading in contact. However, the oppositions ferocious tackling saw that attack filter out.

 

The scrums were well contested all day, with two heavily experienced front rows going head-to-head, and at times literally.

 

On 31 minutes after a great drive from Blaydon centre Peter, who was always looking to run forward as ever, saw Blaydon get into the oppositions 22. Then some great interchange play up the right saw young Max,  go over for the first of his two tries.

 

“I was absolutely made up to score” he said after the game, face beaming with youthful enthusiasm.

 

With the wind now blowing into Blaydon’s faces, with gusts up to 60mph Murray’s conversion was almost impossible from the right touch line. 19 to 12 to Houghton.

 

With the gap now only seven points and with Blaydon playing with the wind behind them second half, things were looking up. Especially after Jenkins went on a powerful and jinking  run up the right for 30m or more, but then got white line fever when an inside pass with good support from Blaydon’s back line, would have been a better option. This would be his only mistake though in a glittering display.

 

Then from the line out a penetrating kick by the Houghton ten, and a run and chase led to problems. Max was deemed to have taken the ball over his own try line resulting in a Houghton scrum five out. Houghton took full advantage going over in the corner. Missing the conversion but still increasing their lead to 24 to 12.

 

Almost from the kick off, poor Blaydon play at the breakdown –  which was a major concern throughout the game – led to the ball being lost and Houghton went over again.

 

After the conversion was missed this meant that Blaydon trailed by 17 points at half time.

 

29 to 12 halftime

 

After an 18 month lay-off through injury, it was great to see the towering presence of Jimmy the Horse back in Blaydon red.

 

The experienced second rower summed up what was letting down Blaydon down at half-time. “We are getting isolated, then we are not securing the ball at the ruck and they are just coming through and taking it” he said. He was not wrong. This must have happened ten times at least during the 80.

 

Now Blaydon had the wind behind them and hopefully in their sails as the second half commenced.

 

Hold on!                   Wind?

 

The weather Gods were against the Spartans, as the wind power certainly dried-up in the second half.

 

What didn’t dry-up though was solid Houghton D and there was no score in the first ten minutes of the second half, this despite constant Blaydon pressure.

 

A beautiful intelligent  cross field kick by Murray nearly paid off. Then Jenkins on the opposite side of the pitch on 54 minutes thought he had gone over, only for the touch judge to signal with a late flag that he had put a boot in touch.

 

Ashley Merrit was certainly fired up and was another Blaydon player who was incredibly strong with the ball.

 

The penalty count mounted against  Houghton. Surely a yellow would be brandished soon as they continually were on the wrong side at the breakdown or deliberately slow to release in the tackle. Persistent fouling would see their lanky second rower later sin-binned.

 

Then on 62 minutes, Merritt smashed through four Houghton players and over their line, only to drop the ball at the key moment one handed from two feet. No try.

 

In those two moments, there were 14 potential points, with Jenkins errant boot and Merritt’s errant grip, which would have dramatically closed the gap.

 

Houghton couldn’t hold out forever in a scene akin to Zulu Dawn at Rourkes Drift, Blaydon’s talented young number eight – who looks some player, got a deserved try, smashing through the Houghton defence. Murray missed the conversion. but Blaydon edged closer at 29 to 17.

 

However, yet again the loss of the ball on the floor at the ruck was Blaydon’s downfall. Tempers started to flare and Jimmy the horse was to see yellow, although to many onlookers, this seemed rather harsh.

 

Houghton also had a player binned for consistently being off side at the breakdown; seemingly thinking the gate was a five bar gate; not a garden gate!

 

From Jimmy’s dismissal the Blaydon forward line was weakened and Houghton went over to go 34 to 17 in front.

 

Blaydon were not to be denied a second half victory though. Brilliant handling and quick interchange between Max, Murray and back to Max, with great quick handing, saw the young colt bag his second try of the game.

 

Murray was magnanimous in defeat and thanked his troops for a spirited display.

 

A very good game in very demanding meteorological conditions saw Houghton win by 12 in the end. 34 points to 22.

 

With a little more composure near the try line, better security at the breakdown, attacking in pods rather than solo runs and better, lower tackling, this surely would have been a Blaydon W.

 

It certainly bodes well for their next fixture though. A few tweaks and we should see the Spartan score count…rocket.

 

The Blaydon faithful hope they don’t have to wait until the next celebration of Guy Fawkes failed attempt to blow up the central pillars of British government, before they see those tweaks. Blaydon Fireworks are then surely coming to a rugby pitch near you soon no doubt.

 

1. Chris Davidson
2. Kieran Duffy
3. Ashley Merritt
4. Jim Houghton
5. Cameron Neil
6. Michael Wharton
7. Peter Andrew
8. Luke Tonks
9. Liam Stamper
10. James Murray  (C)
11. Paul Dingley
12. Kieran Sheen
13. Joseph Jenkins
14. Matt Robertson
15. Max Robinson
16. Kevin Lamb

 

What a fitting way to bring to a close this 2nd session of Justin’s rugby Career as his shoulder goes under the knife on Monday 17th February, 25 years playing for Blaydon, we wait to see what next, good things usually come in 3s, so he should be back… certainly as a minimum coaching to share all that experience and knowledge, watch this space….  Update surgery went well and he’s recovering with biscuits and stacks of well wishes to a great gent in the game!

 

The squad, although a Spartans (3s) game was a mix of players who just wanted to play in Justin’s last game:

• 13 Bricks players, naturally as he’s played for us for a number of season and captained the side, without loss, whilst Paul has been injured.
•  8 guys who move between 2s & 3s depending on selection
• Paul Crampton making his 2nd appearance for Blaydon, getting his 1st try, he’s a big lad, good player and a handfull for the opposition
• Vinnie made his first appearance of the season outside of Vets, started at Prop and ran around the back row in the 2nd half, showing he would not be out of place for our 2s, till he was taken out and had to leave the field after an unintentional kick to the knee, I’ll put it out there, soft or what!  – would say he needs more contact and game time!
• Horse (James Houghton) club coach making a return to playing, injured in warm up but soldiered on, but also forgetting at times he has no match day say on the side line when ‘allowed’ to play for Spartans…
•  Matt Tucker (full back 2nd half) and Ewan Lowry turned up on the day as 2s game was off and they wanted game time;
  • Matt was playing his 2nd consecutive game for Bricks/Spartans as he comes back from injury and ran some tremendous lines from full back
  • Ewan (Backrow) at 19 just loves playing rugby and has played many times for Spartans & Bricks

Our thanks to Westend for making the game so well contested, good team and only beaten due to the number and quality of players in the squad, as well as the amount of fresh legs   

The game ended with Justin kicking a conversion as the last act of his retirement game, one he will never forget.

 

 

Game highs & Lows:

•  Keith Winter making his 3rd appearance in a row, following his return from his 1st retirement put a superb kick in that I would have been proud of, it may have been to save him from having to run too far!
•  Good to see Ewan Pritchard playing back at Blaydon, although he had the wrong colour shirt ion and was playing backrow, where he had a good game as he always does.
•  Good to have Savs back from injury, playing well at both 10 and 13, he may even of got on the score sheet, if Guesty had pasted to him as he was idling outside of him,  waiting for a pass that never came
•  Good forward domination and power resulted in a good controlled driving maul and a score for Paul Crampton
•  Stu Bailey made a good return on his 2nd appearance form suffering an injury to his sternum, after a first half in at centre he made a comment about wanting to get more into the forwards, his face was a picture when I named him as hooker, it had gone uncontested by then.
•  2nd half following the introduction of Horse, he had a number of issues, problems passing with the fetlocks, lost a ball in contact and then showed what he’s still capable of doing on the hoof!
•  Ewan’s first activity after coming on at the interval was to send the Westend 8 backwards at a rate of knots
• Guesty took his opportunity well to score from short range in a what could be seen as a typical scrum half snipe, but it was more of a flop over the line, which he’s still talking about and the distance of a metre keeps multiplying
•  Keith continued to enjoy his return, scoring a short range try, throwing an outrages dummy that was taken, a good break and an offload to Ewan that deserved a try when he subsequently put Adam in and over, but it was cancelled out for, if I remember correctly a forward pass.
•  By now fresh legs for the Spartans was making a difference and what had been very closely contested game saw Blaydon making breaks and starting to pull away with a good long range try finished by Ewan

Last words on Justin, he showed what a good player we will be missing, he was everywhere, so competitive, aggressive legally and playing with a big smile on his face which stayed there well into the night in the bar, just enjoying the whole event – thank you for your 25 years of great service throughout the teams and look forward to seeing you back, in some remit soon.  Speedy recovery sir!

Scorers:
Trys Paul C, Keith, Matt, Adam, Guesty, Ewan,
Conversions; Hopey 3,

FINAL CONVERSION: JUSTIN 

1. Vinnie                                        Steve Palmer                 Paul Crampton
2. Cameron                                   Stu Bailey
3. Keith Winter
4. Paul Crampton                       Adam Turnbull
5. Matt Johnson                         James Houghton
6. Arran Poad                             Paul Vinnicombe
7. Justin Clarke                          Ewan Lowry
8. Paul Strachan                        Justin Clarke
9. Hopey
10. Savs                                       James Murray
11. Damien Shaw                      Matt Robertson
12. Peter Andrew                      Savs                                   Peter Andrew
13. Stu Bailey                            Lee Guest
14. Callum Gascoigne             David Reay
15. Lee Guest                            Matt Tucker

31 all draw, no one could have seen that coming….   What a game, it had everything; good crowd, nearly as many officials as subs, a large Northern squad, a Spartans squad with strength in depth, having 6 subs, with a great mix of youth, (5 academy players picture below) experience players to close game out when it needed to be and speed to score from anywhere. Oh to be an independent spectator watching this game!

Thanks go to:
• academy guys, with Ethan and Karem making debuts,
• Ash, Liam and Mick from Winlaton,
• George now at Tynedale
• Michael Sturla making his Spartans Debut.

Photos, thanks to Derek Turnbull: https://www.flickr.com/photos/26086313@N08/collections

Full squad and Academy players:

 

 

These guys from Winlaton, even the cheeky looking one, looks better in red…..   thanks for playing, always welcome!

 

Scorers:

Trys: Scott 3, James M,  Michael Sturla

Conv: James M 3

.

High & Lows

• The buzz around the squad was very good, everyone jelled into a squad quickly and Paul Winter brought focus, James M captained and Ewan led the pack, both led by example.
• Great double try saving tackles on the line from Davy and Thomas
• Ash, Cameron & Liam Beck bossed the scrums, well supported by 2 sets of 2nd rows
• Ewan, Liam and Sturla were all over making hits in defence and good yards going forward
• At half time we put every sub on so everyone got a half, people were disappointed to come off, but the attitude was great, everyone just accepted it was time for other to have their turn!
• Winlaton Saxons had only just lost out to the Panthers the previous week, Panthers were please we showed up with a full squad but; weren’t so happy to see Ash, Liam and especially Mick, who had completely wound up Panthers scrum half the previous week and put him off his game, who would have thought, eh!
• Northern announced they had a couple of new guys trying out, like a South African backrow who was looking to join their 1s, but as there was no 2s game……, (which was fine as we had some 2s players) they were having a run out. I bet the SA backrow wished he’d waited a week as our back 5 forwards, both halves, just battered the Panthers, forcing mistakes.
• The sideline/dugout was just good fun, the guys on the pitch were doing their stuff and the bench were supporting them.
• Scott’s hat trick of Trys, including a good interception and foot race.
• Just as Liam had done the week before, Ethan and Karem did the academy proud on their debuts, both did way more than held their own and showed what a bright future Blaydon have coming through the youth system.
• Our trys were predominantly from distance and Crusaders were so concern about our ability to score from distance, when given opportunity to continue with the game, they kicked it off and took the draw.
• James M running a foot race in from just outside of our 22
• Lee Guest’s face, when he asked if he could wear his own testicles and go on to play rugby          :-)                      Mrs Guest said NO! and gave me a ‘look’, I wasn’t going there!

• El Capitan had a kick from about 30m out, that could have won this, but he decide to kick to the corner, that could have been something to do with his chosen kicking tee ‘implement’ which wouldn’t have looked out of place in a torture chamber or novelty garden ……

A draw was a very fair result for this game, 2 well matched sides, played at 100mph a times, with a lot of good young players on display, suppotred by a few older heads, from both sides.

Forwards:
1. Ashley Merritt
2. Cameron Richardson.
3. Liam Beck.
4. Adam Turnbull (George)
5. Matthew Johnson (Ethan King)
6. Ewan Lowry
7. Liam Hills. (Nic Eatch)
8. Michael Sturla

9. Thomas Reay. (Michael Wharton)
10. James Murray
11. James Miller (Karem Toprak)
12. Peter Andrew
13. Scott Whitfield.
14. David Reay (Paul Dingley)
15. Matt Robertson (Thomas Reay)