Houghton-le-Spring U9's & U10's 25 - 25 Durham City U9's

Houghton U9’s & U10’s v Durham City U9’s

Houghton 0 - Durham City Eagles 10

Houghton fielded a mixed side including some older players and it was clear from the start that the City Eagles team was in for a challenge. It was a very physical encounter, which began with a strong sustained attack by Houghton. Each and every Durham player defended admirably and despite good pressure, the Houghton side was unable to capitalise on its possession. Durham rallied in the second half and whilst carrying some injuries worked well together to generate try scoring opportunities. Some good quick hands in the backs opened up the Houghton lines and the Eagles created two well deserved tries to clinch victory. Not a pretty encounter, but one the team could be proud of.

Tries: Johnny Bushnell, Ethan Rimington

Houghton 25 - Durham City Falcons 15

After a short break, the boys kicked off against the bigger Houghton side. Niall Butler moved to scrum-half and Will Tomlinson moved out to centre. The Falcons teams struggled to defend against the extra momentum supplied by the older boys in the Houghton side. After finding themselves 2 tries down early in the 1st half, City hit back with a try from Owen Thomas, but leaked another score on the stoke of half time to turn round 15-5 down.

In the second half, the physical encounter continued. Houghton extended their lead before City clawed themselves back into the game with a driving maul. The ball looked as if it was going to be held up, but Owen Thomas managed to wrestle it to the ground. His call of “It’s down, it’s down” was followed by the referee awarding the try.

Houghton were unlucky not to score from the restart. After crossing the line, the city defence forced the Houghton player out of play before the ball could be touched down. Soon after that, both sides were reduced to 8 players with Owen Thomas having to take a few minutes to recover from a brutal tackle. Due to the lack of reserves, Houghton reduced their number to even things up. The City boys held their own for the next few minutes, but conceded another try when the teams were restored to 9 a side.

The final play resulted in a consolation try for Durham. From deep in their own territory, one of the Houghton lads made a break. A last ditch covering tackle secured turnover ball and Durham moved the ball to the right before switching back to the left in a move as good as any they had produced all day. Owen Thomas took a pass out on the left wing and forced his way over the line.

Squad – Jared Warby, John Berriman, Tom Hetherington, Will Tomlinson, Owen Thomas, Josh Fairburn, Niall Butler, Andrew Calver, Alfie Forbes

Tries: Owen Thomas x 3

All of the boys put in performances to be proud of in both games and contributed to 2 very entertaining games.