Intermediate Cup Champions

A lovely night greeted both teams at Hollow Drift in Durham for the Final. A much unchanged Consett team was fielded with the exception of Marshall who returned after a lengthy spell on the sidelines for the injured Cook and the addition of Sotheran, Connor, French & Mcgeorge on the bench to make up the Squad of 22.

Consett started brightly putting early pressure on Rovers but some good territorial and clearance kicks nulled the danger. Rovers took an early 7-0 lead on 7 minutes. Indiscipline from Consett gave Rovers good field position from which they capitalised to make the score 14-0 after 30 minutes after a tap tackle on Trott who spilled the ball to be picked up by the Rovers centred to score his and Hartlepool’s second of the game!. Soon after Consett responded themselves through Neist after some smart blind side play he stepped his way over from 30 metres, Paulus kicking the conversion for 14-7. A further Rovers try before the break after some good offloading by themselves saw them take a 21-7 half time lead. Stern words from Consett’s Coaches, Trott & Jackson and Captain’s, Rowbotham and Cook ensured Consett knew what was at stake and it was only themselves who could turn the game around to make Consett history in retaining a County Cup.

However the Consett supporters were left open mouthed as not 2 minutes after the second half started Rovers had their fourth try and their centre’s hat-trick, the Rovers kicker missed the simple conversion, could this be the turning point? 26-7 to Rovers. Consett were leaving it late however getting themselves into good field position and forcing Rovers mistakes through being patient in possession and strong in defence. They had 7 points back after 12 minutes of the second half when Wallbank put a neat little grubber kick through (one of his season trademarks) for Clay and Neist to chase, the foot race was on and Clay dotted it down to deny Neist his 2nd try out wide, Paulus kicking a superb touchline conversion (26-14). This try and the introduction of lively scrum half Bartle proved to be turning point in the game as Consett were much in the ascendency. 3 points from the boot of the Rovers kicker wasn’t going to change the Consett mind set now which was driven from the previous try (29-14). With only 15 minutes to go Bartle got his reward for his impact scoring wide out in the corner after good awareness of the space on the blindside, another good kick from Paulus narrowed the gap to 8 points now (29-21). Consett knew they needed two more scores however and the first of these came through a strong set-piece a forte of Consett throughout the game, Marshall cutting back on a brilliant angle and powering his way over the line, with the conversion missed Consett were still 3 points behind and knew the next score was going to be pivotal in the final outcome of the match (29-26). Consett were immediately back on the attack after the kick off and scored again on 76 minutes through Connor Petch who again took advantage of the blindside from a ruck to drive over in the corner. With the tough conversion falling just short there was only a 2 point gap now in Consett’s favour and 4 minutes before the final whistle. As fatigue kicked in the penalty count rose from both teams however and Consett knew they couldn’t give the dangerous Rovers kicker a chance in their half to win the game, that said its always nice to have a tight finish and with Rovers turning down one shot at goal in favour of a lineout 10 metres from the line Consett thought that was the lifeline they needed, however an offside spotted by one of the assistant referees gave Rovers one final chance in a perfect position to win the game through a penalty. With supporters and players watching through their hands or not at all in some cases the kick hit the post and fell into substitute winger Wilkinson’s hands who proceeded to kick the ball out the dead ball area. This was greeted by a blast on the whistle by the referee who signalled full time!

Consett again victorious in the County Cup.

Hartlepool’s players, coaches and supporters were rightly devastated as they had been on top for much of the game however an inspirational 20 minutes ignited through the introduction of Man of the Match Liam Bartle was enough to see Consett home.

Congratulations to all involved from both teams and the officials for providing another fantastic rugby display.

After one of the, if not the most successful ever season for the First team Consett will now look forward to next season where they aim to improve on their 4th place league position, this will hopefully be supported by their participation in the Senior County Cup a competition which involves the likes Blaydon, Westoe & Billigham, this years Senior Cup Champions. The first fixture is against Darlington in pre-season.

A final thank you and goodbye to the 3 players leaving us this summer, Ryan Wallbank, Drew Neist and Tom Clay, the latter who was been here for two seasons now and put in some fantastic performances over this time. We wish you a safe journey home and hope to see you back and Consett one day!

Scorers:
Drew Neist - 1 try
Tom Clay - 1 try
Connor Petch - 1 try
Liam Bartle - 1 try
Steven Marshall - 1 try
Alex Paulus - 3 conversions