Novo's 40 Acklam 17

Acklam's preparations for their match at Novocastrians were disrupted by player unavailability, then by heavy traffic which delayed their arrival .
There was only one team in the match for most of the first half as the free running home side took advantage of poor Acklam defence. After 2 converted tries gave Novos a 14 nil lead in the first 20 minutes they continued to dominate. From an attacking lineout near the Acklam line Novos fed the ball out and poor tackling enabled them to score under the posts. The simple conversion stretched the lead to 21 nil.
The onslaught continued as Novos scored another converted try a few minutes before half time. However, just before the break Acklam finally landed a blow of their own. From a lineout the ball was moved quickly from side to side enabling winger Brad Gator to go over for a good try, well converted by Marcus Sudron to make it 28-7 at half time.
After ending the first half well Acklam continued to take the game to Novos after the break. Although Acklam's set pieces had been under pressure in the first half they managed to steal the ball from a Novos scrum . It was fed out and centre Alex Faint made a great run before offloading to his centre partner Sudron who forced his way over to score. Sudron was just wide with the conversion attempt but Acklam had reduced the arrears to 28-12
The visitors' momentum was halted a few minutes later, however, when Acklam were trying to attack again but lost the ball. Novos broke away and more missed tackles allowed them to score under the posts.
Second Row Xander Collins won the restart and Acklam ran the ball. A few minutes later number 8 Josh Abraham made good ground but when the ball was turned over Novos kicked downfield and forced an Acklam goal line drop out. Novos ran the kick back and forced a penalty, from which they took a quick tap to score again and stretch their lead to 40-12.
To their credit Acklam came again . They ran a penalty and Gator scored his second try . Acklam then spent the last 10 minutes of the game trying to score a 4th bonus point try. They were unlucky to be held up over the line twice. Then right at the end Acklam threatened again when Sudron gathered a neat chip kick by stand off Danny Ashton and ran through. However, the last pass didn't go to hand and Novos were able to kick the ball dead to end the match. The final score was 40-17 to Novos and this defeat leaves Acklam still winless and near the bottom of the league table. The imminent return of several key players is eagerly awaited.

Paul I'Anson
President