1st XV
Matches
Sat 07 Sep 2019  ·  Durham/Northumberland One
North Shields
24
20
Barnard Castle Rugby Club
1st XV
Tries: J Marston, A Johnston, M BrookesConversions: C BrunellPenalties: C Brunell
Castle edged out at the Death

Castle edged out at the Death

David Bottoms9 Sep 2019 - 13:13
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Castle started the new season with a tricky little fixture away up at N Shields who were keen to impress

Castle started the new season with a tricky little fixture away up at N Shields who were keen to impress having been promoted from the league below. Barnie arrived in bright sunshine to discover a fresh breeze blowing across the pitch.
Castle’s warmup games had gone well and they were on the front foot from the start scoring from a rolling maul with both the forwards and backs involved. Centre Jack Marston was the man on the ball as it careered over the Shields try line. Curtis Brunell converted.
Barny continued to have the best of the territory and possession in the first half and came to within a few inches of scoring a second push over try but not only did the Shields defence hold out, just before half time they mounted a sustained attack and managed a score in the corner to leave the scoreline reading a nervy 5-7 at the halftime break.
The second half saw Barny attacking once more and a great line break by prop Rowan Hall-Beasley led ultimately to a score by supporting centre Ali Johnston.
North Shields were almost immediately stung into a riposte and came back at Barnie scoring from a good kick and chase to level the scores at 12-12.
The hosts had now seized both the initiative and the momentum and took the lead for the first time with another unconverted try to edge ahead 17-12. However Barnie weren’t finished yet and came back into the game scoring after a scrum close the Shields line put pressure on the home defence. Quick ball down the backs was gloriously finished by fullback Miles Brookes.
At 17-17 with fifteen minutes remaining it seemed that Castle had done enough when they managed a penalty goal to head Shields 17-20 on the run-in to the final whistle but credit to the new boys they never took their foot off the gas and at the death managed to squeeze over for a final converted score to take the game 24-20. Castle were disappointed feeling that they had dominated large phases of the game but failed to turn pressure into points. Nonetheless losing bonus points are not to be sneezed at and they will now gear themselves up for the visit of Horden and Peterlee this coming Saturday.

Match details

Match date

Sat 07 Sep 2019

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

Durham/Northumberland One

League position

2
Barnard Castle
9
North Shields
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Club Sponsor - GLO Tanning Salon
Club Sponsor - John Cullerton & Sons Ltd
Dress Shirt Sponsor - Harpers Kitchens and Bedrooms