DURHAM CITY 14 GUISBOROUGH 12

It was Durham City who emerged successful however. Although Guisborough’s heavier pack took an increasing grip on the set scrums as the game went on, City had the edge in the lineouts, looked the more likely in the backs and had just enough defensive determination to prevail when ill-discipline could have cost them dearly.

With the wind behind, City led from the 10th minute. A raking kick by stand-off Paul Armstrong took play to the Guisborough line, a defender was caught and from the 5 metre scrum that resulted, he darted through a defensive gap to score and convert for a 7 – 0 advantage.

A good 40 metre run by winger Rob Smith after No.8 Peter Dent picked up a loose ball as they defended in their own half might have led to more, but his inside pass was knocked-on and the chance was lost.

But then came a period of sustained Guisborough pressure and a string of penalties against the home side, one of which resulted in a yellow card, Armstrong taking one for the team. Somehow though, they survived the visitors’ surge and went into the interval with their 7 point lead intact.

With the strong wind behind and the rain now pouring down, the odds seemed to favour the visitors. But City defied that as early as the fourth minute of the second half, running from a penalty in their own half with Smith making good ground and centre Chris Metcalfe taking an inside pass to score. Armstrong converted to stretch the lead to 14 – 0.

But Guisborough used the elements well, kicking to good effect and almost scoring when full-back Jack Robinson made a fine break only for a poor pass to end the move. They did however get on the scoreboard after 63 minutes, a dropped City pass allowing centre James Clark to hack through, score and add the conversion.

10 minutes later they capitalized again when City lost possession in their own half, scum-half Ryan Mitchell outpacing the home cover to score in the left corner. At 14 – 12, the result was in the balance but at the death it was City who might have added another score, centre Craig Dominick breaking strongly only to be hauled down 7 metres short.

CITY: Phil Stewart; James Cook, Craig Dominick, Chris Metcalfe, Rob Smith; Paul Armstrong (c), Will Paxton; Kenny Reader, Austin Anderson, Kyle Wilson, Colin Hogg, Tom Wilkinson, Howard Johnson, Mark Davison, Peter Dent.

Replacements: David Atkinson, Rhys Powell, James Cook.