Saturday 23rd. February 2008
Hartlepool 68 Blyth 0
Blyth expected a difficult afternoon at Mayfield Park home of Hartlepool the runaway league leaders, and they were not disappointed. Playing into a gale force wind Blyth made a bright start and in the opening 10 minutes looked the better side but two converted tries in the next 10 minutes set Hartlepool on their way.
Leading 33-0 at half time courtesy of 5 tries and 4 conversions Hartlepool had a commanding advantage for facing the elements but amazingly the wind suddenly dropped to a gentle breeze. Most of the second session was played in Blyth’s half as Hartlepool ran in a further 7 tries, strangely missing all the conversion kicks. Blyth’s coach Joe Miller rang the changes, bringing on all three replacements, but the visitors could do little to stem the tide though they themselves were unlucky on a couple of occasions not to score a consolation try.
Next Sat. March 1st Blyth are at home to Chester-le-Street. Please note the later kick off time 3.00 pm.
Saturday 16th. February 2008
Blyth 32 Hartlepool Athletic 15
Blyth played good enough rugby to have won this game handsomely, but a combination of bad luck and near misses not to mention Athletic sticking doggedly to their task meant the match remained competitive to the end. Never behind, Blyth were the best side in most phases of the game and put together some fluent moves which were shipwrecked at the last by a forward pass or a knock on not to mention last ditch defending.
Photo: Kevin Barratt bursts onto a pass from his scrum-half.
Blyth took an early lead when a strong drive from the forwards saw second row Steven Long touch down. Well on top, number 8, Wayne Davie sniping behind the pack took advantage of disarray in the visiting defence to score from close range, fly half Graeme Sutherland converting to put Blyth 12-0 ahead. At this point, Athletic, a much improved side since their last visit to Plessey Road, mounted a strong attack down the right wing with centre Phil Purdy touching down with fly half John Keegan converting to cut the lead to 12-7.
Keegan was outstanding for the visitors with shrewd distribution and kicking, seemed at times to be single handedly keeping Hartlepool afloat. A penalty from Sutherland stretched the lead to 15-7 and galvanised Blyth into several promising moves which broke down, until the pack, who enjoyed an excellent afternoon, pushed their opponents back, allowing second row Steve Henderson to score. Sutherland again obliged with the kick giving his side a 22-7 lead at the break.
Photo: The beefy Hartlepool Athletic pack test Blyth's defence
Hartlepool had obviously decided to play a more physical game in the second half which was right up the street of prop Mack Morris who replaced Stu Browne who was feeling unwell. The upshot was referee Bill Ryan loosing patience and sending Athletic's number 8 to the sin bin. A Keegan penalty had given Hartlepool some hope at 22-10 but Blyth’s scrum half James Bostock scored a brilliant individual try. picking the ball up just inside the visitors half, he went on a mazy run full of swerves and dummies that completely mesmerised the Hartlepool defence before touching down beside the posts. Another Sutherland conversion put Blyth 32-10 ahead but an ankle injury saw him replaced by Cliff Brookes. The final points were scored by Hartlepool when sloppy work at a line out resulted in lost possession and a try in the corner for winger Carl Johnson.
Photo: James Bostock spots the gap that allowed him through for a superb solo try
The Blyth forwards played extremely well, at times threatening to overpower Hartlepool in the scrums and mauls and winning a fair amount of line out ball.
During the last month two clubs, Richmondshire and Seghill, have been forced to withdraw from the league citing a lack of front row players. The two clubs’ records have been expunged and what began as a 13 club, 24 match league has now become an 11 club match competition.
Next Saturday, Feb. 23rd Blyth face a very tough fixture at league leaders, Hartlepool. K.O. is 2.15pm.
Saturday 9th. February 2008
Hartlepool BBOB 18 Blyth 33
In almost summerlike conditions Blyth returned to winning ways at the Old Friary ground on Saturday. Cry-offs and an enforced change literally minutes before the kick off did not help Blyth’s cause and while they deserved their win, their performance was somewhat laboured against a Boys Brigade side much improved since their visit to Plessey Road in December.
The opening phase was scrappy with the referee in charge of only his second league game seemingly unwilling to let the game flow. Hartlepool went ahead with a penalty before a pair from fly half Graeme Sutherland put Blyth in the lead 6-3. What looked like a forward pass led to Hartlepool scoring a try to retake the lead 8-6 and this seemed to sting Blyth into action and a series of strong attacks finally broke Hartlepool’s resistance, hooker Kevin Barratt scoring the try which Sutherland converted, taking the score to 13-8.
Photo: Kevin Barratt forces his way over for Blyth's first try
Blyth then seemed to sit back and Hartlepool duly took advantage with a try which resulted from inept tackling, levelling the score at 13-13. Soon after a shrewd up and under from Sutherland was collected by Blyth centre Scott Robinson, who in turn fed left wing Callum Bradwell who showed speed and strength to ride two tackles and score in the corner. Sutherland obliged again with the conversion and with another penalty stretched Blyth’s half time lead to 23-13.
Photo: Jonathan Smith is well supported as he taks the ball to the BBOB defence
The play so far had been very ordinary, littered with mistakes and far too much back chat to the referee from both sides. Playing towards the sea end and down a slight slope one expected Blyth to play a more expansive game, exploiting the wide pitch, but the mixture was much the same with a Sutherland penalty the only score in the first 20 minutes taking Blyth’s lead to 26-13. Robinson was replaced by Liam Heslop at centre and eventually a try came from number eight Wayne Davie and Sutherland, whose kicking was immaculate, added the 2 points for a 33-13 advantage.
Photo: Wayne Davie leaves a trail of bodies in his wake to touch down Blyth's final try
That was as good as it got for Blyth as Hartlepool found their second wind and mounted a series of attacks through their forwards which paid off with a try in the right hand corner. Blyth with Dean Langdown now on for Barry Harnett in the back row defended competently over the final 10 minutes, but overall gave the impression of barely moving out of bottom gear. The big plus for Blyth was the improved form shown by the younger members of the side: Bradwell, Heslop, Langdown, prop Stu Browne, second row Steve Long and winger James Bostock who looked dangerous on the rare occasions he received the ball.
Next Saturday Feb. 16th Blyth are at home to Hartlepool Athletic K.O. 2.15pm
Hartlepool 68 Blyth 0
Blyth expected a difficult afternoon at Mayfield Park home of Hartlepool the runaway league leaders, and they were not disappointed. Playing into a gale force wind Blyth made a bright start and in the opening 10 minutes looked the better side but two converted tries in the next 10 minutes set Hartlepool on their way.
Leading 33-0 at half time courtesy of 5 tries and 4 conversions Hartlepool had a commanding advantage for facing the elements but amazingly the wind suddenly dropped to a gentle breeze. Most of the second session was played in Blyth’s half as Hartlepool ran in a further 7 tries, strangely missing all the conversion kicks. Blyth’s coach Joe Miller rang the changes, bringing on all three replacements, but the visitors could do little to stem the tide though they themselves were unlucky on a couple of occasions not to score a consolation try.
Next Sat. March 1st Blyth are at home to Chester-le-Street. Please note the later kick off time 3.00 pm.
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