Saturday 24th. January 2009
BISHOP AUCKLAND 21 BLYTH 3
Although putting in a far better performance than against Yarm the previous week Blyth went down to a second successive league defeat. This now makes promotion much more difficult to achieve as there is now a 6 point gap between Blyth and unbeaten Seaton Carew and Saturday's victors Bishop Auckland although Bishops have played a game more.
There was no sense of depression at the start however, as Blyth tore into the attack and pressed the home line for the first five minutes. The pressure was taken off when Blyth, not for the only time
during the game were deemed by the referee to have gone offside at the breakdown.
Bishop Auckland then showed what a well drilled side they are with attacks of their own. Only poor handling in the backs gave Blyth a chance to recover and settle down in what became a cut and thrust game. The home pack gave the Blyth forwards a tough time at at line-outs, rucks and scrums. Helped by the failure of the referee to spot illegal wheeling of scrums by the Bishops forwards Blyth struggled to gain quality possession but this did not stop the backs from worrying their opposite numbers with their pace. Good running produce several chances with Andy Barker actually touching down but being adjudged to have put a foot in touch, but it was Bishop Auckland who scored first through a penalty. This looked like being the only score of the half until the home side finally managed a complete back line move without dropping the ball to score a try right on the whistle.
Photo: Graeme Sutherland wrong foots the Bishop Auckland fly-half
Even 8-0 down at half time did not seem too much of a problem for Blyth to overcome and things looked brighter when Greg Dawson kicked a penalty soon after the restart. Things soon went downhill though. A series of penalty decisions took Bishops into the Blyth half and resulted in a second try. Blyth then suffered a period without possession as they were 
continually whistled or lost scrums and line-outs. This gave the home side heart to continue their efforts and they added a penalty and a late try whilst Blyth prop Stu Brown was sin-binned to give a comfortable margin of victory. The closing minutes were spoilt by over-aggressive defending as Blyth pressed for a consolation score resulting in the dismissal of a home forward. An unpleasant note to end a hard fought game.
There were some plus points for Blyth in this defeat. The attack looked sharper and the defence was more resilient with overall team discipline being much better than the previous week despite the stream of decisions which went against them. It was also nice to see Kevin Barratt join his son Tom on the pitch for a spell as replacement, the Barratts making up two thirds of the Blyth front row for a time.
Photo: Fly-half Greg Dawson shares some of the hard work with Tom Barratt
Saturday 17th. January 2009
Yarm 16 Blyth 10
Blyth’s promotional aspirations received a severe setback with this defeat to mid table Yarm in North Yorkshire. With neither club engaged in much competitive rugby for a month, it showed in a disjointed and often bad tempered game with both teams seeming at odds with themselves.
In the opening quarter, backed by a strong wind, Blyth looked the livelier but on the 16 minute mark they suffered two blows loosing prop Dave Baron and influential fly half Gregg Dawson to ankle and hand injuries respectively. Stu Browne and Callum Bradwell were replacements with Graeme Sutherland moving from centre to fly half but Blyth has temporarily lost their shape and momentum.
Yarm took the lead in the 23rd minute with a penalty from left winger Reg Rowland but Blyth suddenly got their act together scoring with an interception try from right wing Dean Langdown, converted by Sutherland who later kicked a penalty to give the visitors a 10-3 lead at half time.
In the second half Yarm used the wind to much better advantage, kicking deep into Blyth’s territory and forcing the visitors onto the
back foot. A try in the left hand corner by Yarm’s lively Number 8 Simon Bate cut the lead to 10-8 and a penalty from Rowland put Yarm ahead 11-10. Blyth, against the wind, were beginning to raise their game and at times the home side looked almost out on their feet. Sadly Blyth’s indiscipline cost them dearly with Durham referee Alan Thompson on four occasions reversing decisions he had originally given in favour of the visitors for back chat, and several times penalising them 10 metres for dissent.
Photo: James Bostock off-loads to Graeme Sutherland as Blyth press to get back in the game
With the match finely poised it took an interception try from Bate to seal the points for Yarm. Stefan Krzysiak replaced Kevin Barratt for the final phase but Blyth’s chance had gone, leaving them with a crucial game away to second placed Bishop Auckland next Saturday Jan.24th K.O. 2.15
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