Onwards and Upwards

The captain won the toss and at a slightly breezy Belle Vue, where Consett were well beaten last year by a good Blyth outfit, Consett opted to play into the wind in the first half. This turned out to be a good decision as Consett pressured from the kick off and were awarded a scrum from which Phillip Brown picked and made good yards over the gain line to set up a platform for quick backs ball, shipped through the hands to Ben Jones on the wing. The Blyth full back tried to cover tackle but the Maori side step saw to that, 5-0, conversion missed. Blyth were awarded a penalty soon after the Consett score 5-3. Another penalty to take Blyth 6-5 in front was missed and on receipt of the ball Consett worked their way up field with good ‘patience and possession’ to record their second score through strong work at the rear of a maul from Richard Cleaver (10-3). Strong defence and pressure from the Consett backs ensured Blyth had great difficulty getting through the Consett line, forcing knock ons and passes to go to ground. Blyth kicked a simple penalty to take it to 10-6. As half time approached, Blyth turned down the opportunity to kick for goal or the corner after a penalty deep In the Consett 22, the quick tap wasn’t expected and the ball went to ground, only to be picked up by Adam Wilkinson who raced the 90 metres to score unopposed! Conversion made by Dallas Broderson 17-6 at half time!

The second half started with the substitution of U18s Jack Clark on for Ben Jones on the wing and Carl Pearson on for Richard Cleaver in the front row. A strong kick from young winger Jack Clark pinned Blyth back in their own half. The 22 restart was retained by Consett and after good work from Mark Lee to hold off the Blyth tackler a well timed run from Nick Cook saw him break the line and score under the posts, 24-6, conversion from Dallas Broderson, bonus point achieved. At this point Consett were very much in the ascendancy, however a poor kick and lucky bounce off the recently substituted Blyth winger’s knee saw him knock it past two defenders to score 24-11. As Blyth pressed to close the gap on Consett the main aim was to now close the game out. Two more penalties from Nick Cook ensured the Consett win and with Consett awarded a penalty with the last kick of the game, the ball was put into touch. 30-11 to Consett.

A very much improved performance from Consett, building on our victory at Sunderland the previous week. We didn’t allow Blyth space or time with possession of the ball and forced mistakes from both their forwards and backs. Credit to Blyth for their continual pressure for 80 mins, making Consett remain aware of their threat for the whole game, a concern that had been raised following previous games this season.

Consett travel to Ryton this weekend, a team with the same win %. However, one more bonus point puts them just above us in the table. As we continue to adapt to the intensity and physicality of this league, our game plan and structure appears to be coming together nicely and nothing would be better than another victory this weekend to send us up towards the top of D&N 1!!