Prudhoe & Stocksfield 12 vs 24 Houghton

The first game of 2018 at Stocksfield Sportsfield saw P&S finally get a game of rugby after being unable to play at all during December due to the poor weather conditions. They welcomed second place Houghton who had started 2018 with a comfortable 67-0 win over West Hartlepool TDSOB.

Before the game both sides stood for a minute to remember John Richardson. John was a great follower of sport in the local area, especially his beloved Stocksfield teams, and will be greatly missed by all those that knew him.

There was significant expectation from the visiting supporters who had seen their side run in an average of over 40 points a game and seeing them lose only once all season. The opening five minutes were very scrappy; indeed the first half was a stop start affair with both sides striving to get some sort of superiority. The home pack seemed to have the upper hand in set scrums whilst the visitors showed well at line outs.

Houghton got the first points of the game when good quick support work saw them flat foot the home defence and cross the line for a first try. Although the score was a setback, the home side did not buckle and with Jay Neal, Carl Ferguson and Gerry Robinson showing the way P&S matched Houghton.

As the clock ticked over toward the end of the first half P&S fought their way up field and for almost five minutes pressed against the Houghton try line. The referee penalised the defenders on three separate occasions but after a prolonged lecture to the visiting captain he decided not to use the yellow card and Steven Henderson stepped up and punished the visitors with a well struck penalty meaning Houghton took their slender 5-3 lead into the break.

Within five minutes of the restart another Henderson penalty saw P&S take a 6-5 lead. Losing the lead seemed to fire Houghton into action as they stepped up their intensity and aided by some confusion over the referee’s interpretation of the laws found themselves given a penalty plus a further twenty yards to take them to within fifteen metres of the P&S line. Houghton are generally a well drilled side and were not going to miss such an opportunity. Having scored their second try they took control from the resulting kick off and with well-practiced handling from 10 through 12 to 13 saw the visiting forwards quick to the breakdown and over the line for a third try and into a 19-6 lead with twenty-five minutes to play.

P&S would not lie down however. With prompting from skipper Chris Patterson, P&S forced their way back into the game with two more penalties from Henderson making it a one score game heading into the final ten minutes.

Although P&S kept pushing towards the try line, the loss of Adam Murphy and Jay Neil had an impact. Despite the attacking efforts of Luke Masters in particular the home side began to lose ground and Houghton managed to gain a bonus point try with five minutes to go although they had been made to extremely hard for it against a spirited P&S side. Prudhoe almost gained a well-deserved bonus point of their own with the last play of the game. Neat play between Henderson and Ferguson saw P&S into the Houghton 22 but Ferguson was just unable to get the offload away for Masters to go over in the corner.

The final score of P&S 12 vs 24 Houghton was the same as the reverse fixture played at Houghton back in September.