Novos 31, Stockton 20 - Pack Power Us To Win

The thing I have learnt the most in my 12 years of coaching is that I don't know much about rugby. Novos went in to the fixture with slim chance of beating an in form Stockton who destroyed Northern last Saturday. Squad depth was stretched to the maximum due to the unavailability of Pete Twentyman, Luke Menzfeld, Kit Sorenson, Tom Cox, Adam MacDonald, Alex Littlefair, Alex Cleminson, Rich Harrison, Jez Nash, Jack Hearn, Eoghan Phillips, Pat Smith and James Bass. Some might say that the unavailable side could perhaps beat the side selected.

Novos strength in numbers would come to the fore today as Connor Taylor and Dylan Murphy were given debuts and colt Brandon Gilbert stepped up to help out a much depleted back line. It was great to see Andy Hall back after two games out after he almost needed a skin graft after the Rockcliff game. In addition, Sean Ramsay returned to the squad after a prolonged period out due to injury.

The lads started on fire on a heavy Grangefield pitch - sweeping downfield and earning an early penalty. We kicked to the corner and Darren Kelly won the ball and the pack drove over to give Andy Hall the try. Stockton were obviously not pleased with conceding as their captain punched Daniel Shuttleworth in the face right in front of the ref. He was duly sent from the field prior to Shaun Stewart kicking an excellent conversion from wide out. 7-0 Novos and a golden opportunity to upset a strong Stockton side.

The red card seemed to give Stockton a wake up as they carried well, working round the corner and entering our 22m. We conceded a penalty which was landed by their fly half. He was to be influential all day and was controlling field position as Stockton scored a fine try to go in to the lead 8-7. In a dominant 15 min period he kicked another penalty to stretch the margin to 11-7 with ten mins to play.

During the first half our pack was completely dominant at scrum time winning 3-4 scrum penalties - Andy Hall being the most disruptive with a show of real strength at scrum time. We won several penalties near Stockton's line but were repelled on every occasion, not all legally. A quick tap penalty was taken by Darren Kelly and we drove towards the posts. Five metres from the line Sean Ramsay was tackled but he carried the two defenders forwards before placing the ball down on the line. Incredible strength, Shaun Stewart again adding the conversion to give us a 14-11 lead at half time.

Louis Matthews on for Ross Radford who had done a lot of cleaning out at ruck time. We spoke about finding different ways to go forward and that if we kept the ball it would tell in the long run as their 14 men would be knackered towards the end of the game.

Stockton have developed over a period of time into an excellent side with great experience in the right places. Despite being down to 14 men they dominated the early exchanges round the park despite struggling at scrum time. Their fly half turned pressure into points with three well struck penalties to put them back into the lead at 20-14.

Dylan Murphy and Tom Dias on and Murphy skinned his man first touch to get us hot on attack. Again we hammered at the Stockton line but were again kept out by resolute defence. We earned 2-3 more scrum penalties - Lewis Chater went in from one scrum but the ref had already blown his whistle for another penalty. I didn't spot it but he yellow carded their tight head who had been struggling to cope with Andy Hall. There was then quite a lot of confusion as the scrum contest ended as the match went to uncontested scrums despite Stockton having five capable front rowers in their squad. The ref also stated that they did not have to remove a player either - my head was ready to explode !
However, fatigue was definitely starting as they began falling off tackles and our lads just kept hammering away at their line. After several phases of play Sam Davey went through an exhausted defender for the go ahead try as Shaun Stewart kicked the conversion. Novos up 21-20 with 8 mins to play.

Stockton threw themselves into one last attack to win the game. However, it was our turn to smash them back as Connor Taylor, Ben Wollerton and Andy Hall made some telling tackles. From some great defensive line speed we caused a fumble which was toed ahead by Taylor. He had gone 80 metres up field before Lewis Chater beat him to the ball over the try line. Shaun Stewart added his last conversion but still had time to kick a penalty at the final whistle to make it 30-21 to Novos !

Thank you to James for travelling a fair way to take charge of the game - incredible to see a lad who is still at Sedbergh School take charge of the fixture. Some very good decisions, especially correctly red carding a player for striking an opponent so early on in the game. You have a bright future in the middle and we wish you all the best.

Cheers to the Stockton lads who were incredible gracious in defeat and it was great to catch up with some old friends in the clubhouse. You gave us an opportunity to cause an upset with the red card. However, you battled so hard for your club and nearly came up with what would've been a heroic win.

Novos - great scenes at the end of the game. The complete opposite to how I felt after this fixture last season when we put in a lacklustre performance and a few lads attitudes were very poor. Delighted with the impact of the lads on debut and there were some great individual performances from Andy Hall, Daniel Shuttleworth, Darren Kelly and Sean Ramsay. In the backs Lewis Chater and Sam Davey were a constant threat and some of the backs made some important tackles in the last ten mins.

A much needed rest next week as we tried to mend a few bodies. By the time we play North Shields on Feb 1st it is hoped that this squad will be available and supplemented by the expected return of - Pete Twentyman, Luke Menzfeld, Adam MacDonald, Jack Hearn, Pat Smith and if rumours are correct we may see Sam Busby back in a Novos shirt !

What a day - up the Vos !