ponteland take victory on their travels

with form faltering slightly last week against Blyth and Pont looking for our first away win (and third overall) of the season, the pressure was on to get back to the standard we set ourselves at the start of the season. The second XV looked a lot more determined and ready to do the business in the early start (13:30 to accommodate those who had tickets to the RWC game at St. James park). It was decided in the toss that Pont would play up the hill in the first half and received the kick. the high ball was taken well and secured quickly by the forwards, taking on the ball over several phases, tight in and slightly wider of the fly half showing that the drills and patterns worked on in training were sinking in and becoming natural. The open play looked just as good and, once the backs started running straight lines the openings in the Rockcliffe defence were popping up and some good interplay saw the Ponteland hooker Paul Barron bursting forward to finish off the move and score the first of the tries. The conversion was uncharacteristically missed by Will McGawley (obviously doing something right at fly half since he has had a mention every week so far). The restart again fell to the waiting arms of Chris Stevens who doesn't really get affected by pressure since he has caught the majority of the restarts since he got back. Ponteland secured the ball well again and showed plenty patience by probing the opposition defence and grinding our way up the pitch and playing the kicking game well (England take note). So well in fact, that an attack on the corner resulted in a scrappy and not so pretty try but a try nonetheless, the ball changing hands several times until eventually all Michael Skoyles had to do was pick u the ball and put it back down a foot further forward to score the try, this time converted, 0-12. The Maroon Marauders must have sensed a victory after the next restart as complacency started to creep in giving Whitley Bay a bit more to work with and, in fairness, a good run from the opposition 12 cut a swathe through an utterly silent group of Ponteland defenders and scoring in the corner, conversion missed, 5-12. After this kick up the backside Ponteland realised just how important it was to maintain their discipline and work rate during the game. Nobody was more energetic than the man chosen to fill the boots of Sean Bettison, after his call up to the first team (congrats), Miles Pratt getting up and causing mayhem from the restart, only just missing out on catching the kick off with a knock on. Not to be outdone the Blindside flanker (one of the rare occasions I'll give myself praise) worked well at the scrum and forced an error from their 8 with good pressure, winning back possession via a penalty for not releasing. choosing to take the line out in the corner it was time to try a drive for the line. the execution of this was immaculate and pushed for the try through Herby, putting in another solid display in the front row. With plenty good rugby being played and only a slight lapse in concentration the score at half time stood at 5-17 but WBR turned out not to be the push overs we thought they would be at the start of the game. second half came and it was our turn to give WBR a real uphill struggle, however we seemed slow to start the second half and made things a lot more difficult for ourselves with fatigue effecting basic skills, many tackles going in to high an proving ineffective, with the exception of the second row replacement Rob Earnshaw who had a real impact in the second half, throwing himself into tackles and stopping the big runners effectively. however with general laziness setting in elsewhere it wasn't long before the opposition found another gap and brought the score to 12-17. The familiarity now to last weeks close game was not something we were going to accept and it was time to work to our strengths, taking the play through several phases up front then unleashing the backs. bringing in the elusive running of David Stromsoy in the centres starting of a strong revival to the game for Ponteland saw him skip through several players and ground the ball over the line. with the poor 15 minutes either side of alf time behind us it was time to really drive home the W. Aydan Gray was the next to show his skill, gassing past his opposite man after good passing worked the ball out wide, and a cleverly timed step inside the full back put him through under the posts. After those two scores the score was now at 12-31 which the referee had advised was the final score, however, there seems to be a storng competition for the number 9 shirt between Dan Carruthers of the colts and Luke bailey, the latter made a strong claim with an excellent effort which may just be a contender for try of the year. taking the ball off the back of the scrum doing about 4 or 5 steps which must have confused the defensive line as the next thing I remember is that he was successfully completing is 12th step to jink round the full back and getting a very well earned try for an easy conversion, leaving the score at 12-38. the game then ended moments later with the referee, apparently in a hurry to get away for the game as well, disallowing a try from Herby under the posts ending the game there. so it seems that the return of Brian Chick and his well drilled warm ups have done the business. continuing winning ways not just at the Ponteland fortress but in enemy territory as well. the main focus now is to keep our composure for the full 80 minutes and stamp out these lapses in concentration. coming up is a rest for the second team while the third team play and then it's an away game to morpeth who are currently top of the league...for now!