Joe Brookes collected from the kick off and showed intentions early with a strong leg drive to get over the gain line. Jord Pincombe used his hefty boot to exit out of danger. The Newcastle full back collected but was immediately snagged by Daniel Blake and Stephen Frost who turned the ball over in dangerous territory. The ball found the resurgent Josh Humphries who nearly went over but his opposite number bundled him to touch. From the lineout, captain Jon Freeman collected. John Shirley gathered the ball at the back of the maul and duly dotted down once over the white wash. 7-0.

Cannock still had ascendancy and the visitors struggled to deal with the aggression upfront and also with Scott Pedleys sniping runs from 13. Dave Edwards looked sharp in attack too. However too often in the latter half of the season, Cannock were exposed out wide and the very quick wing raced through to score. 7-5.

Lineouts were frustrating for both sides as both couldn’t consistently keep hold of their own ball with both intercepting each other’s. Newcastle countered the home sides counter from the maul and the No.8 broke free racing to the line. Man of the match Darren Baugh held back in the action of making a try saving tackle. Cannock left aggrieved and now also down on the score sheet. 7-12.

Newcastle had their tales up. From a lineout the ball went wide quickly and back inside to the nifty winger who raced through. Cannock really need to tighten the gaps up for next season and this will be worked on. 7-19. Newcastle added a penalty to take the score to 22-7.

The Lions dusted themselves down and went back up the hill. Scott Lathe offloaded into contact to John Shirley who made further yards. Dave Gunter and Mike Forrester mad life difficult at the contact area and breakdowns. Jamie Fullelove who keeps improving each game put some massive hits in and the backs were efficient in ensuring our own possession. Pincombe slotted 3 points from a penalty to close the gap at half time. 10-22 HT.

Cannock hit back in the 2nd half. Newcastle again struggled to deal with the intensity at the breakdown and cracks were appearing. The ball went left to right and right to left in very quick succession and the Newcastle back line was all in a tizz. Josh Humphries who was loving the amount of ball the new look system brings to him raced through a gap to score close to the posts. 17-22.

Cannock continued to press and Skipper Freeman had a try called back for no advantage and Cannock were awarded a 5m scrum. With 4 minutes to play the Cannock scrum a presented perfect ball for the backs and after great pressure from Gareth Ley and Pedley the 15 was pressured into a to knock on. The front row of Lathe, Shirley and Dave Gunter drove the scrum over the line, the Newcastle front row capitulating and the back row breaking off and coming offside all contributing to the ref awarding a penalty try. 24-22.

Cannock withheld any pressure in the last minutes. A crunching tackle from Brookes and very smart back row play from Fullelove slowed down any momentum. The final whistle went after a great steal in possession from the impressive Neil Cartwright. FT 24-22.

A great win in front of a large crowd. Cannock now travel to promoted Tamworth in the last game of the season next Saturday. Training is on Wednesday. Please do your best to attend.