Consett power their way to victory

Home side passionate performance wins through.

Lookers sponsored South Shields Westoe travelled to third place Consett in a top of the table clash.

Consett struck the first blow, starting the game with passion and determination, pressurising Westoe from the first whistle.

Direct running and support play were rewarded with their first try of the match after only six minutes, winger Patchcott capitalising on poor positional play by the visitors. 5-0

This was followed after a hammer blow to the Westoe pack, who for the first time all year found themselves under pressure at the scrum, conceding an early penalty. 8-0

Struggling to win their customary quick ball, Westoe were put under pressure by a defensive line that read the ref’s interpretation of the offside line well and were tormented by Consett’s flanker Southern, who seemed to be in the middle of every play.

Westoe stuck to the task and attacked from all areas of the pitch; however with the strong breeze they may have been wiser to play the territory game a little more.

Twenty-five minutes in, Westoe’s scrum were again under pressure and Consett picked and fed the short side, where, yet again, Patchcott exploited the gap to cross. 13-0

This was the score that galvanised Westoe into action and for the first time in the match, they switched on and launched their own attack, demonstrating their usual attacking prowess. A clean take in the line-out and powerful drive took them across Consett’s line; however stern defence held them up.

The travelling support were happy for the first time in the day, when Westoe’s pack finally joined in the dance at scrum time and drove the home team back. Sam Gaff picked at the base, Chris Judson recycled the ball attacking the line, drawing in the defence and delivered an inside reverse pass to put Raymie Elliott through the remaining tacklers to score. Half-time score 13-7

Revitalised, Westoe appeared to be back on track, running the ball from their own 22m, they attacked the ten metre channel and worked their way 75m downfield, showing determination and offloading skills. Awarded a penalty 10m out, Judson took the quick tap and fed Andrew Kirton who crashed over the line within a minute of the restart. 13-12

Consett replied with a penalty for offside minutes later. 16-12

With the game now in the balance, it was a combination of good running from Consett and unusual poor tackling from the Westoe side that sealed the game. Full-back Patterson, working with scrappy ball and looking to clear, turned on the gas and footwork to evade six or seven Westoe defenders and run seemingly untouched fifty metres downfield before finally being stopped; however good support play saw the offload to centre Ross touched down under the posts. 23-12

Still fighting, Westoe upped the tempo and commitment; Richard Burrows showed pure pace and determination and debut winger Carlin Mosely showed some potential; however it was too little too late, as a well-drilled and passionate home side defended well. Good line-speed and big hits thwarted any further attempts by the visitors to claw their way back into the game.

The last play of the game found Westoe pressurising the home side’s line, looking to gain at least a losing bonus point and metres from achieving this, Consett’s Southern capped off a fine performance, intercepting the ball and striding the length of the field to win Consett a fourth try bonus point and seal Westoe’s fate.

Westoe will be disappointed with this result but should easily bounce back from the upset. They need to treat all opponents as a threat and ensure they attack every match with passion and all-out commitment.