Pool up to 4th with narrow home victory

Ashington kicked off playing down the Mayfield Park bank and immediately put the visitors under pressure. Pool were soon camped in the visitors 22 metres line however the defence was organised and kept the initial attacks at bay.

After 5 minutes, a great drive from Graham Wilson saw Pool on the offence and a strong forward drive lead to Pool captain Adam Williamson being held on the try line.

From the drop kick , full back Lewis Wilson fielded the ball well and took the ball forward with purpose, prop Graham Wilson was heavily involved in the early exchanges and made 15 metres with a surging run, Nathan Taylor then feed the backs and Alex Winter coolly drew his opposite man before passing to prop John Osbourne who stormed over from 25 metres for a well worked try. Lewis Wilson conversion has struck well but hit the upright 5-0.

20 minutes on the clock and Ashington penalty from 35 meters was narrowly wide as the visitors came into the game.

As the weather conditions worsened with driving rain , the game entered a scrappy phases and tempers boiled over which lead to both captains being spoken to by the referee .

Ashington number 10 then made a searing break through the middle from half way line and he looked odds onto score but was tackled well by Keagen Thomas just 5 metres from the Pool try line.

From the resultant scrum, quick hands in the backs saw the winger finish well in the corner for a great team try. The touch line conversion kick was well struck and sailed between the posts 5-7.

Two minutes later , Ashington were reduced to 14 players when a forward was penalised for a high tackle. Pool scrum half was then sin binned for stopping a quickly taken penalty .

Just before half time, the visitors extended the lead with a similar try to the opening try from a scrum ten metres out. The conversion was narrowly missed to give Ashington a 5-12 lead.

Second half , Ashington started brightly and the speedy backs attempted to attack from deep and as they approached the half way line , John Carney intercepted a pass to score under the posts.. Lewis Wilson conversion made the score. 12-12 .

Pool started to dominate the forward exchanges and Callum Whitehead and Academy player Jayden Bates were making inroads with some strong runs, John Osboure joined in the attack but was felled with a high tackle which saw him replaced by Kieran Watson.

Keagen Thomas kick took play 5 metres out but Ashington stole the line out ball and the opportunity was lost.

Pool were on the offence again but knocked on at a ruck as they moved towards the try line, from a Ashington scrum 5 metres from their try line , the visitors number 8 picked up and made 20 metres before the ball was passed to the winger in support who showed great pace to out pace the Pool defence for the third try. 12-17.

Pool needed a quick response and that's exactly what they got, the Pool direct forward approach was causing problems and a ruck 30 metres out , the visitors were penalised and Lewis Wilson's penalty reduced the lead to 2 points . 15-17.

With fifteen remining , Pool retook the lead, from a shorten line out , John Carney excellent quick line out ball saw number 8 Callum Whitehead crash through several tackles before being stopped on the try line . Michael Smalley in support picked up a scored from close range for Pool's third try . Lewis Wilson touch line penalty struck the post and bounced back to make the score 20-17.

The visitors still looked dangerous in the backs but Pool managed to close the game out for a narrow victory.

Next week, Pool travel to Whitby in a D&N2 League game.