Blaydon Development 47 Vs Ryton IIs 42 – Development secure maximum points league win

Good to see some old and new faces in a Blaydon shirt:
• Scott Kelly has returned to the club and was a handful for Ryton
• Jake Jobey has also returned, having been in Blaydon youth and will certainly strengthen our front 5 capability

• Ewan Lowry from last years U18 played for both the 2s and the Development on the day
• Lee Guest has returned after his travels and work commitments and fitted straight in
• Anth has returned to playing, from not turning up to carry the water bottles and played his part in the victory

Some thanks:
• First to Ryton, who came a long with 13 so we both got a game
• Next to Jake Jobey and Paul Winter for playing a half each for Ryton

Few points on the photos above:
• You can see our forwards looking at Scott holding the ball, thinking, well there’s only 3 of them, no hurry
• Good to see Jake back playing, although first thing he did was play first half for Ryton……
• Doesn’t Paul look good in blue… we may be able to trade him for a box of Stella… a full case 24 * 330ml mind…
Photos: Click here for Flickr – Sorry only 21 photos this week, was me taking the photos and we know that doesn’t work…

Other highs & lows from the game:
• Blaydon forwards were in the ascendancy with good lineouts, driving, interplay and support play
• You could tell it was early in the season and first game for the Development side, tackling wasn’t where it should have been, as can be seen from the sharing of 89 points.
• Good tackling in the backs from Savs and Divers
• Not sure where Anth was going, on one of the defensive, he got all excited and I think he took the inside centre….
• Guesty wanted me to mention his try saving tackle on the big Fijian and seemed hurt I didn’t get it on camera, reality is I hardly got anything photos, too busy watching the game…. Given he asked, we will watch more closely to be able to report any of his howlers next game….
• Bit confusion at a kick off, with Arran, Hopey and Stracks all looking at each other and a Ryton player running in a stealing the ball.
• Paul Winter dropped a kick off in the second half, we assured Ryton he does it all the time when he’s playing for us
• Hopey did well with Conversions; 5 from 7

Summary; first game for the Development, a hard fixture against a very quick Ryton side and a clash of 2 styles, Blaydon with forward power and Ryton with youngsters capable of scoring from anywhere, but a win with maximum league points, couldn’t ask for any more

Next week Development travel to Berwick

Scorers:
• Trys: Arran 2, Hopey, James, Divers, Stracks, Savs
• Convs: Hopey 5

1. Scott Kelly
2. Tom Hirst
3. Paul Winter (Jake Jobey)
4. Arran Poad
5. James Knox (Ewan Lowry)
6. Cameron Richardson
7. Stracks
8. Stu Bailey
9. Hopey
10. Phil Divers
11. Damien Shaw
12. Lee Guest
13. Peter Andrew Bath
14. Anth
15. Savs