Berwick Bears 10 Durham City Saracens 22

Saturday 23 November 2019
Berwick Bears (2nds) v Durham City Saracens (2nds)
(Away - Scremerston) 2:00 pm KO
Result : Berwick Bears 10 - 22 Durham City Saracens (HT 5 - 17)

Team sheet :

15 Max Bailey
14 Jason Coumans
13 James Cook
12 John Guthrie
11 Jonny Hedley
10 Andy Stephenson
9 Dan Spence
1 Dave Berriman
2 Jim Earley
3 Ed Partridge
4 Rhys Powell (Captain)
5 Matty Sayer
6 Mark Berriman
7 Russell Harris
8 Euan Gardiner

Replacements

16 Tom Davies

Physiotherapist None

Referee Tony Parlett (Northumberland Referees Society)

A truly magnificent 22-10 away win, scoring four smashing tries to two, against ‘top-of-the-table’ Berwick Bears in atrocious conditions that was nip and tuck at 17-10 for the last 35 minutes - literally an uphill task and into the wind - but the lads, rather than caving in, dug in, defended admirably and a last play try to ensure victory was a greeted with understandable glee.

City lost what would have been a good toss to win and kicked off down the slope with a cross-field wind at their backs. Having entered this in my notebook the incessant rain and cold meant that my further entries were limited to the times and identity of try scorers. So it is with my apologies that this is mostly a summary report from memory of a memorable game.

The opening minutes showed that this would be a keenly contested match between two high energy sides as Berwick took the play to City with committed drives and carries aided by a number of refereeing decisions and penalties going their way. However with less that five minutes on the clock City’s first foray into the home 22 resulted in a penalty that captain Rhys Powell seized on to tap and go and force his way over the line for a try that though unconverted gave the visitors an encouraging 5-0 lead.

Thereafter it was a game of attrition with City having do more of the defending to stem Berwick’s all-round game of ball carrying forwards - driving off the fringes of rucks and up the middle - and backs who wanted to move the ball wide. With City finding it difficult to win their own scrum ball - scrums that included referee (and President of Northumberland Referees Society) Tony Parlett bizarrely, given the current interpretation of the law, awarding a penalty for a City put-in adjudged to be not-straight, the visitors struggled to get into the Berwick 22. However it was City who got the next score after 27 minutes when excellent support play from half-way included multiple off-loads going to hand culminated in second row Matty Sayer getting over the line for an unconverted try that took City’s lead to 10-0.

Back came Berwick and after sustained pressure on the visitors line they got a deserved score when their driving game produced an unconverted try for 10-5. But not to be outdone City got a seven pointer before half -time when outside centre James Cook showed terrific power and strength to get to and reach for the line with defenders clinging on for a try that full-back Max Bailey converted for 17-5.

And so to half-time with City having to face the elements and slope in the second half. Was a 12 point lead enough against a vigorous Berwick side who, as the half-time whistle blew, were encouraged to ‘pin City in a corner’ ?

Almost immediately Berwick got back into the game with an unconverted try wide out from a sliding grubber that was put into the right hand corner after 44 minutes to reduce City’s advantage to seven points at 17-10. It was a lot to ask of the visitors to hold out for more than 35 minutes but to their immense credit they performed heroically under a lot of pressure in and around their own 22 without threatening the home line.

As the clock neared full-time and with the touch-line pundits, and perhaps some of the players, hoping a scrum ball would be put into touch either to hear the referee’s whistle or take up the little time remaining, out-half Andy Stephenson fed inside centre John Guthrie who made a break and set off on a powerful run up the middle of the park and just when it looked as though he wouldn’t make it all the way to the line found co-centre James Cook on his shoulder who took his pass to score at the posts. I thought that for some reason this prompted a fight in the in-goal area but soon realised that those players who had the energy left to get there had celebrated the score with a football-style dive-on pile-up. That the conversion was missed didn’t matter. In a game where Berwick had the far greater share of possession the final score of 22-10 slightly flattered City but the win was nevertheless well-deserved.

To say that this was an epic may be an exaggeration when compared with higher standard rugby but for those who played in it for City it was, and it was, in its own way, a bit of a classic. Turning round 17-5 up then after only a few minutes of the second half only 17-10 up and to not concede in the remaining 35 minutes facing the slope and wind was a tribute to the side’s terrific defence against a determined Berwick side. For a game that was played so well and with great commitment by both sides on such a cold and wet day it was tough on whichever side lost it, so commiserations are due to Berwick who showed us on and off the park why this sport of ours gets to you.

With Russell Harris being named Man of the Match it’s a bit of a contradiction but true to say it was unfair to single out anyone so here’s my assessment of how all the players from one to 16 played their part :

1 Dave Berriman. Given that being a forward let alone a front row forward is not his position of choice his performance was outstanding.

2 Jim Earley. One of the most regular and willing of players made a great contribution to the massive team effort from the unaccustomed hooking position.

3 Ed Partridge. A mainstay of the pack who set the standard for others to follow especially in the first quarter when the side had to knuckle down.

4 Rhys Powell (Captain). A fantastic competitor who led the side splendidly by example and because of that he would be everyone’s choice for the first name on the team sheet.

5 Matty Sayer. A No.8 and another who was out of position playing as he did in the second row. He took his try well, typically knowing his way to the line when the chance appeared. Along with the other forwards was responsible for a resolute scrum that held its own in the tight second half.

6 Mark Berriman. He’ll forgive me for saying this but the ‘old man of the team’ whose animated pre-match team talk and performance proved that there’s still fire in the belly until, that is, he understandably ran out of gas towards the end of the third quarter.

7 Russell Harris. Usually a winger who was content to be pressed into service as a flanker and relished the task set him, performing admirably as you would expect from the best tackler in the team.

8 Euan Gardiner. A flanker who played at No.8 and whose first-up tackles, competing for the ball at the breakdown and line-out catching of the ‘lump of soap' ball were some of the main reasons that we were always in the game.

9 Dan Spence. A flanker, turned centre, turned scrum half for the day whose breaks from the base proved pivotal in giving the Berwick defenders something more to think about and, please correct me if I’m wrong but I think his break set the move away that led to City’s second score.

10 Andy Stephenson. The steady hand on the helm who directed the team, set up the opportunity for City’s final score and made the trip despite the not inconsiderable pressures of his work and home-life.

11 Jonny Hedley. One of the backs who defended as if his life depended on it and almost won a race for a first-half touchdown.

12 John Guthrie. A bulwark in defence who along with his co-centre was one of the reasons that Berwick’s dangerous outside backs never made the break they threatened and were increasingly ineffectual as the game wore on and he made the fantastic last minute break to nail the victory.

13 James Cook. A player who both defends and knows his way to the line as demonstrated by his having already scored 14 tries this season in the nine games he’s played.

14 Jason Coumans. Having been unlucky to get little ‘game-time’ in recent weeks, he at last got 80 minutes rugby and for someone who is still relatively new to the game was strongly committed throughout to both the game and the team ethic.

15 Max Bailey. A constant presence on the pitch and he needed to be given the conditions and his being the last line of brave defence - summed up by his second-half cry of ‘Oh shit’ as he slipped in gathering the ball five metres from his own line with Berwick chasers bearing down on him.

16 Tom Davies. Last but not least in that he was a necessary part of the team when he replaced Mark Berriman and despite turning up in some odd positions to receive the ball always managed to present it so the team retained possession.

… and not forgettting the 17th man, Johnny Morris, who braved the conditions to support the team.

City scorers :
James Cook 2 tries
Rhys Powell 1 try
Matty Sayer 1 try
Max Bailey 1 con

We’ve got Morpeth Stags (their 3rds) at home this Saturday 30th November 2019, kick-off at 2:15pm.

Saturday’s win takes this season’s overall Saracens’ record to :
P 10 W 08 D 00 L 02
F 512 A 192 and a try count of 80 for and 30 against.

and the Aln League record to :
P 08 W 07 D 00 L 01
F 467 A 149 with a try count of 73 for and 24 against.

whilst last season’s overall record was :
P 21 W 14 D 00 L 07
F 832 A 538 and a total of 133 tries for and 86 against

Stewart Eddie
27 November 2019