NORTHALLERTON
A 17 SKIPTON A 10
Northallerton
is always a daunting trip. They have a big, strong, experienced pack and this
time we were greeted by a stiff breeze blowing straight across the sloping
pitch. This made the line-out and passing any distance, hard work. It also
meant plenty of scrums. With two second rows as props and a back-row of two
centres and a scrum-half, the forward battle was never going to be easy.
Skipton,
playing uphill first half, were under pressure right from the start. The other
common theme at Northallerton is a kicking fly-half, who knows how to play his
home pitch. He kicked for position, his forwards crashed into a number of
phases, winning quick ball each time. Their powerful number six, picked up from
close to the line to touch down. It looked a double movement, but the ref
didn’t see it. This was in the first few minutes and Skip could have folded. No
chance. The defence from this point was first-class. After half-an-hour, Skip
had worked their way up the field, from a five-metre scrum, scrum-half Jon
Kulik broke blind and put winger Mark Fleming into the corner.
On
the stroke of half-time the incessant pressure told. The strong running North
centre, picked an angle to breech the Skip defence for a converted try. Half-Time – North 12 Skipton 5.
With
the slope in their favour, Skipton were quietly confident. But in the first
minute of the second half, North put a few passes together and broke through
some weak tackling to score again in the corner. From then on, Skipton continued to take the
game to North. Though, under constant pressure in the scrums, the line-out was
working well, Chris Sheehan throwing well to Ash Greaves. Loose ball was being
secured and won by captain Steve Marks at the breakdown. The North defence was
secure, offside, but safe. Their strong pack trundled the ball up the hill and
their ten cleared his lines well.
Skip
saved their best till last, centre Jack Firth made a break, kept the ball
alive. The ball went through some more pairs of hands before winger Mark
Fleming received 40 metres out. Plenty to do, but heading sideways at first,
then straightening up, slicing between two defenders to streak away and finish
under the sticks.
All
in all, with a scratch side another good performance. Forwards Steve Marks,
Richard Hill and Chris Sheehan put everything into the game, no matter what
pressure they’d been under. Welcome return of Wayne Berrey at ten to spearhead
proceedings. The most welcome of all was the return after six months in
Saturday
31 March
Team
15
Ben Davies 14 Mark Fleming
13 Karl Potts
12
Jack Firth 11 John Hughes 10
9
Jon Kulik 8 James Wade 7 Steve Marks
6
Malcolm Dutton 5 Ash Greaves 4 Richard Hill
3
Paul Shearer 2 Chris Sheehan 1 Brad Bates
Subs
John
Grayston Peter Dutton
Tries
Mark
Fleming 2