Rovers 3rds travelled to Barnard Castle buoyed by the availability of Mark Power who was home and available to take up his self appointed position at no 8 and James Evans (hereinafter referred to as Evo) who was returning after injury and eating. Chris Sainty was also able to play after again a break. On the minus side we suffered some late cry offs and no shows and at departure time were 2 short. This included Nathan Olley being knocked out of bed at 1.15pm by Tony Ross - who had ALL his own kit! Then AN Other, who was medically certified to neither work nor play, declared his availability and went off to get his kit- for which we were grateful. AN Other knows who he is, the lads know who he is but let’s hope his doctor or employer do not find out! We got a further boost on the way over when Ste Saunders who had cried off due to a lack of child care managed to persuade someone gullible, ie his brother, to look after his offspring and cried back on. Verily this was a display of parenting not seen since the repeats of ‘Married with Children’ stopped.

Anyway we had 15 players take the field at Barney’s rustic ground on the banks of the Demesnes. Both teams were level 5th in the Tees Valley Social League but it was Rovers who looked the better team in the early exchanges. Matty Lidster continued his fine form from last week by taking a quick penalty and when seemingly held up he pirouetted his way out the tackle for an unconverted try in the corner. He then bollixed his form by knocking on from the kick off when under no pressure. Evo then took a crash ball to score under the posts and Ryan Harrison added the extra points. Tony Ross then dropped the ball from the kick off. Must have been something catching. Or not. Connor White then burst through and cleverly popped the ball up to Ryan Harrison who went between the posts and converted his own try. After 25 minutes we led 19-0 playing up the bank. At this stage we seemed to take our foot off the pedal and allowed Barney to come more into the game. They scored a converted try following a quickly taken penalty and then drew even closer with a try from a no. 8 pick up at a scrum. This was again converted and at half time we led 19-14.

Playing down the bank but into a strong wind we initially put pressure on the Barney defence and Freeman Lane scored a fine try after shrugging off several defenders. With the conversion by Ryan Harrison this extended our lead to 26-14. Bubbles Gallagher then enacted the rugby version of an own goal. Receiving the ball at full back he attempted to clear his lines but kicked the ball straight into the midriff of a grateful attacker who trundled over under the posts. The converted try reduced our lead to 26-21. Worse was to follow when Barney scored an unconverted try to draw the scores level 26-26. Harsh words were spoken and Rovers picked themselves up and attacked again and again. Mark Power nearly put Chris Sainty away but the pass did not go to hand and Nathan Olley ran over several defenders down the wing and the ball was switched inside but the move broke down inside the Barney 22. Evo then took matters into his own hands. First with a 40 metre break from the centre where he was held just short of the line but broke free to scramble over. A fine try that probably benefitted Evo by being down hill! Ryan Harrison drop kicked the conversion. Evo then made a similar but shorter break to go over once more for his hat trick of tries. This was the final score and we had won 38-26.

At the time I don’t think many players were happy with the performance. We allowed Barney into the game too much and should have been more clinical and energetic in our play. On reflection though it was a decent game. While the ability of our stand out players was the difference between the 2 teams having players of this quality passing on their experience to younger lads is what 3rd XV rugby should be about. What we do need though is more players to be available. Having the bare 15 is not acceptable in the circumstances.

Evo’s hat trick and overall play marked him out and Mark Power was a rallying point for the forwards. Chris Sainty had a better game at scrum half than the last time I saw him (which was against Micky Young!) and he gave Ryan Harrison the opportunity to play. Despite his aberration Bubbles Gallagher defended and attacked well. Our young front row of Jamie Evans, Matty Lidster and Tony Ross had the better of their opponents for most of the game. Man of the match though was Freeman Lane. He is only 17 but was one of our best to show with the ball in hand, he got us lineout possession and was usually one of the first to the breakdown. Well done Freeman.

Team

Gallagher, Dowdle, Olley, Evo Evans, AN Other, Harrison, Sainty, Ross, Lidster, Jamie Evans, S Saunders (c), Langley, White, Lane, Power

Next week the 3rds are away yet again. This time at Thirsk 2nds. Remember KO will be 2.15pm