On Saturday, in very damp and increasingly misty conditions on the Demesnes, Castle put on a much-improved display against a visiting Novocastrians side that has got better as the season has progressed.
With a stronger side than of late and welcoming new scrumhalf Max Pepper into the side and talisman utility back Ali Johnston returning from injury, Barnie started brightly enough with plenty of pressure in the Novos half. However with slippery ball, handling errors gave the visitor some territorial advantage on twenty minutes and their own sniping scrumhalf broke off a rolling maul to give them the first try.
Within minutes though the trusty boot of Greg Upton pegged the lead back to 3-7 as he potted his first penalty of the day.
On the half hour, once more Novos showed their cutting edge when within sniffing distance of the Barnie line as they, once more, got over the Castle line to extend their advantage to 3-12. Once again the lead was diminished within a few minutes as Upton once more sent the ball through their sticks and soon added on more to close to 9-12.
However Novos were always dangerous on the break and just before half time they executed a backs move to perfection and led 9-19 at the interval.
As the gloom descended in the second half, both sides struggled to get continuity of play. Castle were often attacking close to the Novos line but so often then made a mistake to let the opposition off the hook. As the light faded and the fulltime whistle loomed, unforced errors from Castle allowed Novos to get good field position and with the loss of Jack Worley to the sinbin, after a series of scrums and scrum penalties close to the Barnie line, right at the death Novos were awarded a penalty try.
Despite the disappointment of the loss, Castle should be buoyed up by a much stronger showing than recent games. The scrum was rock solid with the introduction of mature prop Richard Welsby and Jack Worley was excellent in the lineout. Once more Tom Marston, Marty Lonsdale, Doug Shaw and Sam King worked supremely hard to win the ball and break the gain line. Pepper was everywhere and added some real panache to the halfback delivery.
Barney now have a week off before finishing this half of the season with two games to show their mettle further when they take on Stockton and Middlesbrough.