Durham Under 18s end the Season Unbeaten!!

On Sunday 8th January, eight of our strong Academy were selected in the matchday squad for Durham County Under 18’s to face a physical Cumbrian side away at Lymm Rugby Club. This was part of the U20’s North of England selection series, so Cheshire, Yorkshire, Northumberland and Lancashire were also involved. More details to follow on this front in due course.

Congratulations to Jamie Lane, Max Gordon, Josh Chapman, Aidan Ferguson, Ewan Brown, Lloyd Hall, Ben Harrison, Leo Suliman, and Rhys Burt who were all involved in the match which was played in the best of conditions following the earlier downpours!

What a match Durham got off to a fast start, dominating the first half resulting in a 29-7 lead at half time. A multiple of changes at half time seemed to disrupt our play for the first 20 minutes of the second half, with Cumbria scoring straight from kick and dominating the play ending up with score being 29-24 with 20 minutes to go. Thankfully the Durham lads got themselves organised working through the phases powering on and getting the ball out wide to take advantage of the overlaps on both flanks.

The final score was Durham 44 Cumbria 29!! All the Blaydon lads put a huge shift in and this is the first time in many years that Durham Colts have ended their campaign unbeaten following their 19-17 victory over Northumberland before Xmas.

A special congratulations also needs to go to Paul Vinnicombe who has been drafted into the County Coaching squad. Paul has developed some of the older colts since they were at Primary School and many are still involved, which just shows how much the lads have enjoyed their time at Blaydon.