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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.

BRFCvNU2022

Rotherham start 2023 on a high at Crow Trees!!

Blaydon started extremely quickly stretching the play left and right working their way to the Rotherham 22metre line where a handling error by the a Rotherham forward gave Blaydon Scrum Half John Clarkson the ball, and he chipped over the only defender to score. He easily converted his own score.

 

5 minutes later, the Clarkson show continued, following a scrum on the halfway line, Clarkson took it blind from the base and Rotherhams defence were not awake, he ghosted past the full back to score wide out, this time missing the conversion.

 

Rotherham had the upper hand in the scrum and were being awarded penalties each time they had the put in.  As a result they were getting a lot of ball in the Blaydon half and after 10 minutes of pressure Blaydon lost Nathan Bailey to a yellow card. A few phases later Rotherham right wing Jack Hedley went over unopposed. Centre Richard Hayes adding the extras.

 

Frustratingly 5 minutes later another scrum was demolished by the Rotherham pack and they got the ball out wide and again Jack Hedley scored this time cutting back inside, the try was again converted by Hayes.

 

Rotherham were gaining the ascendency and scored again on half time, this time a clever cross field kick to left winger Jack Taylor. Hayes this time missing the conversion.

 

Half Time: Blaydon 12 – 19 Rotherham

 

Rotherham picked up where they left off in the first half and a good run by 2nd row Matt Challinor, was well supported by the backs who fed in winger Jack Hedley for his Hat trick and another converted try.

 

Blaydon responded well, quick thinking by replacement a scrum Half, Ben Douglos who took play to the Rotherham 22. The ball was spun out and a pass behind him forced replacement fly half Zach Thompson back to the forwards but they were not expecting it and he went straight through them to score. He then converted his own try as Clarkson had been substituted.

 

The game ebbed and flowed for 10 minutes but on 62 Minutes a good move in the Rotherham backs which was debatably obstructing the Blaydon defender led to a converted try for Scrum Half Sam Boxhall.

 

Blaydon responded well and were hammering away at the Rotherham line, however just when the home side were anticipating getting back in the game, the away side Scrum Half intercepted a Ben Douglas pass and went the length of the field to score. Its hard to understand how he wasn’t offside given the ground he had to cover to take the pass but it went unpunished.  Hayes converted to put the knife in the home sides slim hopes of snatching something from the game.

 

Rotherham scored again in what turned out to be the final play of the game as they went blind from a scrum and the home defence was none-existent, this time replacement back row Callum Bustin the scorer, again converted by Hayes.

 

The scoreline probably doesn’t reflect the performance and had we scored when Boxhall controversially intercepted the score would have then been 26 – 33 not 19 – 40.

 

Full Time: Blaydon 19 v Rotherham 47

 

Blaydon: Bailey, Ashman, Cooney, Greenlaw, Appleton, Marshall (C), Clarkson, Appleby, Smith, Dodds, Barry, Phillips, Wright, Roy, Hall-Lyon

Replacements:  Siddle, Sanderson, Turnbull, Douglas, Thompson

 

Rotherham: Veall, Hedley, Taylor, Hayes, Sableman-Blue, Dever, Boxhall, Capps, Bermanas, Denman, Challinor, Allan, Payne, Kay, Poole (C)

Replacements:  Newborn, Rylance, Bustin, Nwoshu-Hope, Ollivent

 

REFEREE:   Dave Charlton

ATTENDANCE:  232

STAR MAN:  Rotherham – Jack Hedley

 

Scorers:

Blaydon  19

Tries:    Clarkson 3, 11, Thompson 46

Conversions:  Clarkson 4, Thompson 47

Penalties:

 

Rotherham 47

Tries:            Hedley 25, 30, 43 Taylor 39, Boxhall 62, 71 Bustin 79

Conversions:  Hayes 26, 31, 44, 63, 72, 80

Penalties:

Tynedale Match Postponed – Frozen Pitch

The First XV fixture scheduled for this Saturday away at Tynedale RFC has been postponed like many others throughout the country due to a frozen pitch!

Please don’t despair however as the planned Second XV match between the two sides has been switched to the AGP at Blaydon RFC, kick off 1.30pm (subject to a pitch inspection tomorrow morning).

Pop along and continue with the Xmas festivities and support the lads.

Academy Stars Thrive in Nail Biting over Northumberland RFU

Great mornings rugby at Billingham RFC, Durham 19 – 17 Northumberland, 7 Blaydon Academy players in the starting 15, but they all put a shift in!! (Jamie Lane, Ben Harrison, Sam Green, Josh Chapman, Rhys Burt, Ewan Brown, Leo Suliman and Lloyd Hall) Well done to all involved 🏉🏆👍

Durham’s next game is on Sunday 18th December, where they are making the short journey west to take on Cheshire in a Counties Festival being held in Cumbria, further details to follow in due course.

Grasshoppers share the spoils at Crow Trees!!!

Preston Grasshoppers started the stronger of the two teams. And on 9 minutes a break by their fly half Will Hunt took the play into the Blaydon 22. A few phases later a clever grubber by Hunt put in winger Will Clapham to score under the posts which full back Ben Pearson easily added the conversion.

 

Blaydon responded well from the kick off and a Preston penalty led to a kick to the corner. The Blaydon catch and drive was good and hooker Danny Gray was in control of the ball when they crossed the line. Blaydon Scrum Half John Clarkson added a good conversion from wide out.

 

The next score came from a poor Blaydon kick which fed the Preston left winger Tyler spence who carried into the Blaydon 22 and then he fed in hooker Chris Taylor who carried the ball 20 metres to score. Pearson missed the conversion.

 

Blaydon responded well and after 5-10 minutes of pressure, Ralph Appleby Blaydon Number 8 took the ball to just short of the line and Darren Barry was on hand following up to get the ball down just over the line from 1 metre out. Clarkson easily converted.

 

Frustratingly for home team an error on 30 minutes triggered an excellent Preston counter and their  openside Ben Dorrington took them from their own 22 to deep inside the Blaydon half. The ball was quickly recycled and it was spun wide and a good line ran by centre Jacob Browne was enough to cut open Blaydon’s scrambled defence and he went in from 30 metres out completely untouched, Pearson converted.

 

The theme of each team taking turns alternate scoring continued and a good Blaydon break was deliberately interrupted by a Preston front row in an offside position and because it was on the stoke of half time and right in front of the posts, Blaydon opted to take 3 points courtesy of the boot of Clarkson.

 

Half Time: Blaydon 17 v Preston Grasshoppers 19

 

2nd half started badly for Blaydon where they were demolished in the first few scrums leading to string of penalties in the Blaydon half but luckily Pearson missed his first penalty attempt at goal but made no mistake with the 2nd attempt.

 

The remainder of the 2nd half was very scrappy to say the least with Blaydon edging things territorially and on a few occasions knocking on when hammering away with their forwards at the Preston line.  Eventually on 75 minutes Blaydon crossed the Preston line through a driving maul from a 5 metre line out this time replacement hooker Charlie Smith had the ball in his hands as they rumbled over the line. Frustratingly for the home side the conversion from 15 metres wide of the posts was missed by Clarkson to win the game.

Full Time: Blaydon 22 v Preston Grasshoppers 22

Blaydon: Bailey, Bourne, Obonna, Cooney, Appleton, Marshall (C), Clarkson, Dodds, Gray, Rewcastle, Dodds, Barry, Phillips, Wright , Hall-Lyon, Appleby

Replacements: Siddle, Smith, Roy, Stamper, Greenwood

Preston Grasshopper: Pearson, Spence, Browne, Swarbrick, Clapham, Hunt, Moulding, Mabaya, Taylor, Trippier, Murray, Naylor, Riley, Dorrington, Richardson

Replacements: Thompson, Orry, Jones, Squirrell, Gosling

REFEREE:   Michael Harris

ATTENDANCE:  215

STAR MAN:  Preston Grasshoppers – Will Hunt

Scorers:

Blaydon   22

Tries:              Gray 10, Barry 26 , Smith 74

Conversions:  Clarkson 11, 27

Penalties:      Clarkson 39

Preston Grasshoppers 22

Tries:                      Clapham 5, Taylor 19, Browne 32

Conversions:           Pearson 6, 33

Penalties:                Pearson 48

Blaydon RFC Youth Newsletter – Autumn 2022

Good Evening All,

The Youth Section have pulled this fantastic newsletter together, well worth a read through before Strictly starts!

The Youth Section are doing some great things and the newsletter will be published regularly throughout the season, well done to all involved, this is a fabulous idea!!

Just click the link below: –

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdrive.google.com%2Ffile%2Fd%2F1hqjvCktM2xmrrVlvDekUkPu-GszjTFZ0%2Fview%3Fusp%3Dshare_link%26fbclid%3DIwAR0_TPBsf_dLF9vgAMO-fAxmBg5zv5Sl1g8wpt8VEpOLTFp34jrIGyLTwlw&h=AT3mUFQn6_lBVYiXvqpUts9U1pLd5akEoctfHRKrvgiiQoOieJqChZPeX75pMXi0mpGMiDH8qApS1aO7qF3N8GjkPVYidXyFdQG6G5imQX28dJ9OgJG2lm4bbbDZ56h86Iw

BLAYDON FINALLY KICK START THEIR SEASON!!

Blaydon started brightly and quickly found themselves camped in the right corner of the Sheffield 22 and after 5 minutes of numerous 5m line outs, scrums and phases of pressure, the Sheffield defence eventually broke as Darren Barry got the over the line from barely 6 inches out. Fly half Zach Thompson kicked the conversion.
The next 10 minutes passed without much excitement, but Blaydon continued to dominate possession and were playing very much on the front foot and on 18 minutes from a good attack down the left wing led to Number 8 Ethan Clarke being held up over the line. However, the subsequent Sheffield goal line drop was charged down by Will Varley and the ball was recovered by Blaydon 2nd row Austin Phillips. The ball was quickly recycled then passed out left and a clever and well weighted grubber kick by Centre Ewan Greenlaw was touched down by Alex Charlton, this time conversion was unsuccessful.
A Blaydon penalty on halfway gave Sheffield a good kick which gave them a line out on the Blaydon 22 and a few phases later Sheffield number 8 Alex Bawdry picked the ball up from what appeared to be an off side position in a maul but it went unnoticed by the officials and he went in under the posts. The conversion was easily kicked by Scrum Half Elliot Fisher.
Blaydon responded immediately from the kick off as 2nd row Darren Barry won the jump contest from the kick off and the ball went through a few phases before it was passed to Ethan Clarke who smashed through 2 or 3 defenders to score. Zach Thompson easily converting.
Frustratingly for Blaydon on the stroke of half time Sheffield ran a good move in their backs which fed in winger Matt Adcock who took play to 10 metres out from inside his own half. A couple of phases later the ball was passed to out back to Adcock who scored wide out. Fisher missed the conversion.
Half Time Blaydon 19 v Sheffield 12
Sheffield started the 2nd half on the front foot, and on 45 minutes fly half Callum Posa sold the dummy back inside which the Blaydon defence dually went for and he went through on Blaydon full back Nathan Bailey but this time Posa wisely passed back inside to left winger Christian Hooper to score, again easily converted by Fisher which tool the scores level for a short time.
Blaydon response was quick thanks to an error by Sheffield at the restart which led to a penalty on the 22 which Zach Thompson knocked over for 3 points and restoring the home side’s lead.
The next 15 minutes was pretty much stalemate, but good Blaydon defence led to a Blaydon penalty on the halfway line which they kicked to the corner. This led to about 5 minutes of pressure in the Sheffield 22 and eventually after numerous penalties, a few scrums and numerous short one out phases, Alex Charlton eventually went over the line for the bonus point score. This try again converted by Thompson giving Blaydon a 10-point cushion with 12 minutes to go.
Although there was an anticipated response from away side it came to nothing, and the next score came from Blaydon on 76 minutes with Sheffield conceding a penalty on their own 10 metre line and Zach Thompson stepped up to converted it between the posts to put the home side 13 points ahead.
Thankfully that turned out to be the final score of the game with Blaydon finally getting their first win of the season.
Full Time: Blaydon 32 v Sheffield 19
Blaydon: Bailey, Williams, Marshall (C), Greenlaw, Thompson, Horsfall, Fearn, Gray, Dodds Barry, Phillips, Charlton, Varley, Clarke.
Replacements: Rewcastle, Smith, Wright, Clarkson, Appleton
Sheffield: Kimpton, Adcock, Flint, Smith, Hooper, Posa, Fisher, Whitney, Noble, Hicklin, Parsons, Claydon, Hignell, Taylor, Fawdry (C)
Replacements: Keeton, Rogers, Crapper, Vitta, Finn
REFEREE: Michael Harris
ATTENDANCE: 178
STAR MAN: Zach Thomson – Blaydon
Scorers:
Blaydon 32
Tries: Barry 6, Charlton 18 & 68, Clarke 34
Conversions: Thompson 7, 35, 69
Penalties: Thompson 46, 76
Sheffield 19
Tries: Fawdry 31, Adcock 40, Hooper 43
Conversions: Fisher 32, 44
Penalties:

Bonfire night at Blaydon RFC – SOLD OUT

Please note, we are sold out, we have reached the event limits, as previously publicised they will be no tickets sold at the gate on the night.

 

2022 BRFC BONFIRE AND FIREWORK EXTRAVAGANZA

NO ENTRY PERMITTED ON THE EVENING, WITHOUT PRE-PURCHASED TICKETS

 

TICKETS, click me

 

Blaydon RFC host their 16th Annual Bonfire Night, the event has a similar attendance limit to last year, with last year being sold out days before the event! 

  • All tickets will be bought using Eventbrite with no tickets being sold on the gate.
  • We have onsite parking with traffic managed by Beacon TM providing a quick and Safe exit.
  • William Clark Funfairs providing high quality entertainment and fairground rides!.
  • A Huge bonfire
  • On site catering units to be announced

NEW TO THE 2022 BRFC BONFIRE AND FIREWORK EXTRAVAGANZA

A PYRO – MUSICAL, NEVER BEFORE HAS BLAYDON SEEN A CHOREOGRAPHED FIREWORK DISPLAY IN TIME WITH MUSIC!

Henderson Scores 5 as Sedgley Take the Points at Crow Trees!

With Sedgley Park coming to Blaydon as yet undefeated and given we were looking for our first win this was always going to be a tough game. The same fixture last year ended in a 16 – 66 defeat but we faired a little bit better in the away fixture last season so there was still hope of some improvement on last seasons efforts.
So for the first 7 or 8 minutes it was very much Blaydon on the front foot, we were at 5 metre line out number 2 or 3 when Sedgley Parks counter to our driving maul forced Blaydon to give up the driving maul and look to the phases and that was going well until we dropped the ball 1 metre short of the try line. To be fair to Sedgley Park they were very quick to react, and within seconds the ball had been transferred from the right wing to the left wing and into the hands of Jamie Harrison and he turned our defenders inside out before racing to score in the corner. This first try was very well converted by fly half Oliver Glasse.
The next 10 minutes both teams were exchanging mistakes between the two 22 metre lines until Blaydon were attacking on the half way line and scrum half John Clarkson looked to spin it wide left but unfortunately his pass was well anticipated by right winger Rhys Henderson who intercepted to go in for the second try unopposed from 40-50 metres out. Glasse again converted well.
The next score came from another Blaydon handling error in midfield, which Sedgley attacked quickly at a disjointed Blaydon defence and a few phases later the ball was passed out to Henderson who out-paced the despairing Blaydon defence to score, again converted by Glasse.
Without wanting to sound repetitive, the next score was also for Sedgley Park, again they forced a Blaydon error and again the quickly jumped into life and again just a few phases later the ball found itself in the hands of right winger Rhys Henderson and he duly finished off without being touched, this time for his Hattrick. It was again converted by Glasse.
Finally on the stroke of half time Blaydon managed to build some phases and got into the Sedgley 22 and when it looked like we were struggling to break the gain line, a clever chip by James Cooney and a friendly bounce saw him gather his own kick to score Blaydon’s first try of the game. The conversion was missed by Clarkson.
Half time: Blaydon 5 v Sedgley Park 28
Sedgley started the 2nd half brightly and were looking likely to score again down the right wing but in an attempt to intercept / thwart the Sedgley attack Blaydon left winger Nathan Greenwood was given a yellow card for a deliberate knock on which was probably a fair call. Unfortunately a man down and on the left wing of all places, Sedgley scrum half Cameron Crampton, went blind down their right wing from a ruck on the 15 metre line and with no Blaydon left winger on the pitch it was Henderson once again who was unopposed to score. Glasse was again successful.
The next 20 minutes was messy to say the least with lots of injuries and substitutions for both side, which left Blaydon with a back row consisting of one back row, a scrum half and a prop, but to be fair to the home side we kept fighting and on 65 minutes Lewis Williams made a half break and fed in Nathan Greenwood who finally got the ball in space and he raced passed fly half Glasse to score in the corner, Clarkson again missed the conversion.
Frustratingly this mini revival was short lived and Sedgley park replied immediately and once again Henderson was the scorer, his 5th of the day, and as with all the Sedgley Park tries, Glasse converted.
Blaydon hadn’t given up yet and some good defensive pressure by Cooney forced an error in the Sedgley backs and the ball fell to substitute Nathan Horsfall 40 metres out and he duly ran in to score.
Unfortunately for the home side that was the final score of the game as Sedgley Park looked the more likely to get another score in the dying minutes but it was Blaydon who held out.
Full time: Blaydon 15 v Sedgley Park 42
Blaydon Bailey, Williams, Cooney, Thompson, Greenwood, Marshall, Clarkson, Fearn, Gray, Appleby, Barry, Phillips, Roy, Varley, Clarke.
Replacements: Dodds, Siddle, Edginton, Horsfall, Simpson
Sedgley Park: Riley, Henderson, Maher, Riley, Harrison, Glasse, Crampton, Blanchard, Maher, Black, Birtwell, Crowe, James, Bentley, Goodman
Replacements: Downham, Mallinson, Nonleh, Stelmaszek, Benbattouche
REFEREE: Daniel Woods
ATTENDANCE: 142
STAR MAN: Rhys Henderson
Scorers:
Blaydon 15
Tries: Cooney 39, Greenwood 65 Horsfall 73
Conversions:
Penalties:
Drop Goals:
Sedgley Park 42
Tries: Harrison 8 Henderson 21, 28, 32, 47, 68
Conversions: Glasse 9, 16, 29, 33, 48, 69
Penalties:
Drop Goals:
Many thanks to Chris Nunn for the Match Report and Iain Clyne for the fantastic photographs.