Medicals kicked off against a fairly stiff wind, but that did not deter them from having most of the play in the first 30 mins. Redcar were not helped by the referee who would not allow any contest for the ball in the mauls and rucks and as Medicals had most of the possession, the referee pinged Redcar repeatedly, which led to Redcar’s Steve Johnson and Richard Barker both getting yellow cards, so effectively Redcar played for a quarter of the game with 14 men. On 35 mins from Redcar’s second yellow on Barker, Medicals kicked the penalty, 0 – 3. Redcar did have a penalty attempt just on half time but full back Danny Addison fluffed his kick completely.
Half Time Redcar 0 Medicals 3
As the second half commenced Redcar were now up against the wind, they were getting more into the game, forwards winning more ball and giving the backs a chance to do what they do best and that’s attack the opposition line. Centre Josh Dixon made some telling runs and from an initial forwards drive, on 52 mins he made a break through the middle of Medicals backs, the ball was then passed from one wing to the other and centre Jake Duddles scored, 5 – 3. On 65 mins Medical retook the lead with a penalty for a high tackle, 5 – 6. From the restart the ball did not go10, so medicals opted for a scrum, the scrum half fed the No.15 who jinked through Redcar’s flimsy defence and passed it to the winger No.14 for an easy run in, round behind the posts, 5 - 13.
Medicals increased their lead on 75 mins with a well taken drop goal from their fly half who was having a very good game orchestrating things behind the pack, 5 - 16. Two minutes later Redcar struck back with a try from Richie Young after some good play from both forwards and backs and veteran No.8 Richard Barker being involved twice in the move, as Richie went over near the corner, 10 – 16. As the game drew to a close, Medicals had the last say when they denied Redcar a losing bonus point, the ref blew for a penalty in front of Redcar’s posts and their No.10 made no mistake putting it over.
Final score Redcar 10 Medicals 19.
# | Team | Pl | Pts |
8. | Stockton | 25 | 51 |
9. | Novocastrians | 24 | 50 |
10. | Guisborough | 24 | 49 |
11. | Medicals | 26 | 44 |
12. | Ponteland | 26 | 43 |
13. | Gosforth | 26 | 40 |
14. | Redcar | 26 | 23 |