NARUFC v Hartlepool BBOB
By Aimi Hellawell
Aycliffe visited BBOB's Friarage Ground on a miserable, foggy Saturday afternoon in October
Newton Aycliffe RUFC visited the Headland in Hartlepool to play Boys' Brigade Old Boys at their Friarage Ground. The weather conditions were dull and foggy, however the pitch looked in good condition. The Aycliffe boys were looking forward to another good performance against tough opposition. Captain Andrew Littlefair impressed upon the players that a solid performance was required against a newly relegated BBOB. Aycliffe fielded a completely new front row, with Liam Kelly and Mark Affleck both unavailable. Jeff Hodgson and Jamie Whelan both made their first starts of the season after returning from shoulder injuries. Ryan Milford started at loose-head.

The game kicked off and Aycliffe made an unbelievably fast start, with the backline playing their now usual brand of exciting rugby. James Thacker went under the posts within the first two minutes, slicing through the defence after some quick thinking from veteran club captain Warren Parsonage who took a quick tap penalty, putting the Hartlepool defence on the back foot. There was more decisive back play to come, with all the backs sharing in a magnificent try for Luke Crossen, after he took a fantastic inside pass from stand off James Cocks. The dominance of the backs was so evident that the Hartlepool defence was left in tatters. From a solid set piece by the Aycliffe pack came a bullet pass from Warren Parsonage to James Cocks. Hartlepool's defence, who had been under the cosh for so long, did not know how to react as they parted for Cocks to slip into the gap, before he sensationally stepped the fullback to score under the posts.

After 15 minutes Aycliffe were 21 - 0 up.

The old heads in the Hartlepool forwards realised that to prevent a landslide they had to change the way that they were playing. To their credit they rucked, mauled and scrummaged exceptionally well, starving the Aycliffe backs of the ball. Aycliffe's forwards put in one hell of a shift to compete against a strong, experienced and street-smart BBOB pack.

At half time the score was 21 - 0 after James Cocks had kicked all three conversions. Peter Ryans' half time team talk reminded all the players that every game has to be worked for and no team in this league, especially BBOB, would lie down and let us win. Hard work and mental fortitude would see us through the game.

The backline started where they left off with the ball moving quickly along the line to the openside wing. A sun-tanned Luke Crossen, looking like a young Dale Winton in his Supermarket Sweep prime, raced from his blindside wing to loop round and receive a lovely pass from Jonny Griffith to score in the corner.

For the next 20 minutes BBOB pressurised the Aycliffe line. Aycliffe's forwards manned up massively and defended heroically. Paul O'Donnell, Niall Kelly, Neil Morgan and Andrew Littlefair tackled like men possessed, thwarting wave after wave of Hartlepool's marauding forwards, who used the rolling maul to great effect.

Aycliffe's scrummage was under massive pressure from a well drilled BBOB pack. Bob Malvern came on and settled the ship. However, it was the sublime hooking skills of Jamie Whelan that moved the ball away from the danger area, blunting BBOB's attacking edge at the set piece. BBOB's purple patch eventually wore down the Aycliffe defence and enabled them to score two drive over tries, which were well deserved after the tireless effort of their pack, making the score 28 - 10.

After absorbing so much pressure, Aycliffe began to turn it back onto BBOB. The pack became more confident, believing in the ability that had made them so dominant in earlier games. A tap penalty 5 metres from the BBOB line saw Aycliffe's forwards charge through to crash over for another try.

Ben Walton, making his debut for the club, and Dan Montgomery entered the fray. Walton made an immediate impact making a fifty metre charge from a pick and run from Andrew Littlefair, who offloaded the ball as he got tackled. Ben Walton almost made it all the way however he was caught two metres from the line, only for the sylphlike Andrew Littlefair, who had flogged his mutton to get off the ground and support him and receive a pass, to fall over the line unopposed. James Cocks kicked 5 out of his 6 conversions.

Final score NARUFC 40 - 10 BBOB

The food and hospitality offered after the game by BBOB was absolutely fantastic, with certain members of the Aycliffe team (naming no names) going back for 3 helpings!