City Saracens 30 Medicals 2s 27

Wednesday 27 April 2022
Durham City Saracens (2nds) v Medicals 2nds
Candy League Trophy Final
(Home - Hollow Drift 1) 7.30pm KO
Result : Durham City 30 - 27 Medicals (HT 10-19)

Team sheet :

15 Conor Murray
14 Matty Vincent
13 Nick Steel
12 James Cook
11 Max Bailey
10 Paul Armstrong
9 Dan Spence
1 Dan Young
2 Jack Bengochea
3 Andy Kirkup (Captain)
4 Matty Sayer
5 Rhys Powell
6 Liam Davies
7 Jack Murray
8 Howard Johnson

Replacements

16 Josh Cotton
17 Jim Earley
18 Tim Mackay
19 Myron Dempsey
20 Jonny Hedley
21 Michael Huntington
22 James MacLaurin
23 Fran Silveira

And not forgetting the two ‘non-travelling’ reserves who made themselves available but didn’t make the list of 8 replacements that was agreed with Medicals : Dave Berriman and Tom Davies

Physiotherapist None

Referee Kevin Allison (Durham Referees Society)
Referee’s Assistant Adam Tweddle (Durham Referees Society)
Referee’s Assistant Tony Rutherford (Durham Referees Society)

This was an excellent and exciting game of rugby which City won 30-27 (5-4 on tries), for once with the last play of the match, having lost three in similar fashion during the season. It was a fantastic testament to the Saracens’ grit and determination - a win that looked very unlikely after 5 minutes when Medicals, who were quick and elusive throughout, stormed into a 0-12 lead.

On a near-prefect evening for rugby Medicals kicked off towards the river end and after a series of City carries a Paul Armstrong kick was returned with ominous speed by Medicals who got an attacking line-out on the home 22. Having won the line-out Medicals then showed great pace and energy to score a converted try. A score that was quickly followed by another when they confidently ran the City re-start to take a 0-12 lead within five minutes of the start.

Thereafter Medicals should have romped home but their mistakes of knock-ons and forward passes and City’s Saracens competent if not dominant scrummaging allied to Jack Murray’s sterling line-out performance meant they didn’t add to their score in the first quarter.

As the game neared the end of the first quarter City got a toe-hold back in it when Max Bailey caught a cross-field kick to make it 5 -12 to the visitors. However on the 30 minute mark, back came Medicals with her third try which was converted to extend their lead to 14 points with the score at 5-19.

City then managed to give themselves hope by reducing the deficit to 10-19 with Tim Mackay, who was now on the pitch with Josh Cotton as ‘rolling’ replacements for Andy Kirkup and Matty Sayer, getting a touch down after a City scrum and a series of ‘pick and goes’ in the Medicals 22.

And so it was 10-19 to Medicals at half time with City facing the daunting prospect of facing a fast and committed Medicals team in the second half. City Saracens replaced wings Max Bailey and Matty Vincent with Jonny Hedley and James MacLaurin, and gave Liam Davies a spell with Jim Earley coming on in the 2nd row and Rhys Powell moving to blindside. At least I think this is what happened at half-time and understandably there were further changes made during the second half.

Five minutes into the second half and City reduced the leeway to four points when Rhys Powell got over after a series of drives for the line in and around the Medicals five metre line. Paul Armstrong’s conversion making it 17-19 to Medicals.

Then with 50 minutes gone, almost miraculously given the danger that Medicals posed whenever they had possession, City’s Saracens took the lead 22-19 with an unconverted try by Dan Young in almost identical style to their previous score. That the home side’s reliance on only one line-out jumper was put under increasing pressure became a concern and the game was on a bit of a knife-edge. So despite the last 30 minutes becoming a bit of a blur, with both sides using their replacements either tactically or because of injury, the game came down to an exciting finish.

First Medicals scored a lovely unconverted try wide out on their left to regain the lead 22-24. This was followed by Paul Armstrong converting a penalty in front of the posts for City to take a one point lead at 25-24. Medicals then kicked a penalty from bang in front for 25-27 and it was quickly followed by them seeming destined to score what would have been a match winning try but for a magnificent tackle on the City goal-line by Dan Spence. And still the excitement wasn’t over with Paul Armstrong hitting the post with a penalty from the visitors ten metre line and with it City’s chance looked to have gone with only a minute or seconds left. However the side saved something for the last play of the match when Howard Johnson picked up from the base of a ruck near the Medicals line and seeing a gap ahead of him took the direct route to plunge through it to win the game 30-27 for City. And thus, apart from Paul Armstrong’s disrespectful left-footed conversion hitting the cross-bar, a nail-biter came to a glorious end (especially for the home side).

As City needed a fly-half, 1st team captain and scrum half Paul Armstrong was our only ‘ringer’ and, at the end of the day in my opinion, he didn’t play better that any of those who weren’t available would have done e.g. Alec Barradell, Tom Duclos, Joe Hogan and Rob Smith to name but four. Important last ditch tackles, of which some were what could be described as scrags on the shirts or shorts of Medicals runners, were invaluable with Paul Armstrong, Jack Bengochea, James Cook, Andy Kirkup, Dan Spence particularly and everyone else in the team fired up. In many ways Medicals should have won it and a draw would have been a fairer result but City’s application and never-say die attitude won it for them.

A word here about referee Kev Allison who, though he has been maligned by some over his performances with the 1st team this season, refereed the game consistently well and fairly, ably supported as he was by his fellow touch-judge referees, Adam Tweddle and Tony Rutherford. He and his assistants could only have been impressed by the nature of City’s application and Medicals fast game.

My odd sometimes funny tales of the evening included :

1. Max Bailey juggling the ball a two or three times before scoring the first City try from a cross-field kick which he assures me was with the benefit a ‘free-ball’ when otherwise he’d have dropped it ! He thus got to lead the post-match victory song - by shouting it and not singing it !

2. Disappointingly there was no trophy to present as whoever had it last hadn’t returned it.

and …

3. ‘Reserve’ Dave Berriman’s presence throughout. During the warm-up though missing briefly when in a panic about the whereabouts of his toddler son and even wearing one of the replacements’ ‘warm-coats’ during the match (that’s him - not the toddler - the 24th person in the post-match photograph in the front row with the red left sleeve)

In all the fussing about at the end of the game for the first time this season there was no award made for the Man of the Match - it was probably appropriate too, given what was a genuine team performance. And that includes the unfortunate City replacement Michael Huntington who didn’t get on in what was a very tight game that went all the way ‘to the wire'.

The result of this Trophy Final takes this season’s Saracens playing record in what has been a difficult post-Covid shut-down season to a creditable :

Played : 14 W : 7 L : 7 Points F : 488 Points A : 317 Tries for : 69 Tries against : 48

of which the disappointing ‘Candy League 2 South’ record is :

Played : 8 W : 2 L : 6 Points F : 173 Points A : 204 Tries for : 28 Tries against : 31

And so we move on to the Durham County 2nd Teams Cup Final on Saturday that is also to be played on Hollow Drift against what will be the formidable Durham University 2nds, or their Palatinates or even their 4th/5th team. Whichever of their sides turns up they’ll be strong and quick - probably faster than the speed which Medicals showed in tonight’s game and that’s saying something !!!

SE
Wednesday 04 May 2022