Blyth RFC

After a lay off of between 5 and 6 weeks, Blyth Buccaneers travelled to a cold and windy Winlaton, with a much changed team. After losing the toss, Blyth ended up playing with the wind and the slope in the first half. For long periods Winlaton were penned in their own 22, and used their big forwards to pick and drive out of defence. The influence of rugby league to the home side was evident in the strong, direct running of the back line that caused problems for Blyth all day. Blyth found it hard to get any momentum or cohesion, and the mix of players, and long lay off, was more evident in the Buccaneers than in the home side. Blyth eventually got on the score sheet, following a series of forward drives, when Simon Yeo crashed over from close range. On a rare foray into the Blyth half, Winlaton slotted a penalty, and just before the half time whistle, Blyth lost scum half, Ben Robinson with a hip injury and forced a reshuffle of the team, Richy Cole coming into the back row, with Tony Armstrong moving to the wing to allow Dave Turnbull to fill in at the base of the scrum.

The second half started with pressure from Winlaton using the wind, but within minutes of the start, Blyth lost second row Simon Yeo to a head injury, caused during some fierce rucking. With Chris Pearson already on the field, John Heyes had to return to the game, with all subs used, and players out of position, Blyth struggled for any momentum for 25 minutes. Winlaton took advantage of this to score 3 converted tries, one dubious one following a scrum where the home prop used his hand to steal the ball, and while the ref told him not to do it again, the home back row powered over to score. A driving maul from a line out and a break through the centres were Winlaton other scores.
Blyth finally managed to get back into the game, and following good play, Tom Barratt was forced into touch just short of the line. Blyth added 2 penalties from Rob Coulson and Baz Smith, and as the game came to a close, a superb weaving run up field by centre Andy Dunn, resulted in Winlaton killing the ball, quick thinking from Captain Mel Cole, and a quick tap penalty, saw Mel feed his son Richy, who broke 3 tackles to squeeze in at the corner .
This ended the scoring, and over all Winlaton were worth their victory, on the plus side, the Bucks’ managed to get the holidays out of their system, as they face 10 more games this season, and are looking for some continuity to return.
On Saturday the Buccaneers face Newcastle Ravens at Seagull Park in a friendly.