Ponteland 74 – 5 Yarm
By Chris Morgan
After what seemed like an eternity, Ponteland finally returned to action on Saturday – and they did so in style as they ran riot against lowly Yarm.
Any thoughts that the cold snap may have produced a rusty performance from Pont were soon frozen out in what was the side’s most comfortable victory for several years.
Straight from the kick off, it was obvious that Pont had the upper hand as they dominated the match from start to finish. Yarm’s pack was no match for the superior power of the Ponteland front eight and it took just under ten minutes for the home side to make their dominance count.
After number eight Craig Robinson was adjudged to have been held up on the line, Pont didn’t take too long to open what was to become a rather large account as the pack pushed over for skipper Danny Harrison to touch down for the opening try.
Ten minutes later the lead was doubled. Alan Moses broke well and after wriggling clear of a tackle fed in Mark Kelly for the hooker to go over for 10-0.
Such was the intensity of Ponteland’s pressure, Yarm found themselves constantly on the back foot as the home forwards seem to win virtually every scrum and line out. The third try came courtesy of full back Will Newbigin who touched down on the right hand side of the post as Pont played their rugby inside the visitor’s 10 metre line.
The fourth and final try of the half came courtesy of winger Jack Storey who took advantage of a loose kick by the Yarm centre to run at pace before touching down for a well taken score. Pont took a 20-0 lead into the break, with four missed conversions the only down side to a fine first half display.
If the first half was comfortable for Pont, then the second resembled a scene from The Alamo as wave after wave of Maroon clad soldiers destroyed the meek defence of the hapless Yarm side.
It only took three minutes for Pont to strike again as Storey started where he had left off touching down for his second try in the left corner before prop Chris Steven followed suit 3 minutes later, scoring in the same corner as the flying winger to give the home side a 30-0 lead.
Yarm were turning into something of a shambles as they consistently missed tackles to gift Ponteland further tries. Rob Laverick added a seventh try before skipper Harrison went over for his second of the match.
The pattern of the game was seemingly an action replay as every Yarm restart was met with another five points from the home side. Second row forward Stuart Weir ran half the length of the field to add a ninth try before Newbigin complete his brace to bring up the half century. Replacement scrum half Angus White converted – amazingly the first of the match as three players failed before him on nine separate occasions.
But the rout was not over. Jonathan Livingstone Evans galloped over the try line with ease before the try of the match saw some fine off loading and running from the Pont backs release Jonathan Murphy as Pont registered 62 unanswered points.
A consolation try five minutes from time for Yarm was the only black mark of such a one sided second half but there was still time for Pont to add two further tries as Storey completed his hat trick before Dan Walton went over to complete the rout. Newbigin’s kick sealing an astonishing 74-5 victory.
Such a one sided victory is rare in sport but Ponteland were ruthless in every department as Yarm were literally blown apart by the home side. Pont will hope to take this result forward as a congested second half of the season fixture list will undoubtedly bring some tougher tests in their battle for promotion.
