The fortress is finally breached

In a hard, physical encounter at the Lodge, Northallerton RUFC’s men’s first XV succumbed to their first defeat of this season against Halifax Vandals RUFC. Meanwhile, the second XV put on a birthday celebration fit for a prop as they travelled away to Acklam RUFC claiming a close 32-36 victory to mark veteran prop Paul Dixon’s 57th birthday. The U15s were also in action this week, hosting Billingham RUFC at the Lodge and continued their successes from last year into this one, running out 29-10 victors.

The men’s first XV welcomed second in the table Halifax Vandals to the Lodge, a team who had put a strong run of games together recently and made the long journey with a point to prove. The game kicked off and from the first collision it was evident that this was going to be a bruising match, neither side willing to give an inch of ground without a fight. The first fifteen minutes was played in the middle of the park as the defence from both teams negated the attacks from the other. It was Vandals who registered the first points of the game. Opting for a penalty thirty metres out the ball was knocked over calmly. From the resulting restart, a Vandals infringement offered Jedd Bainbridge the chance to level the scores to which he happily obliged. It seemed to be only through penalty kicks that either side could score points as Vandals took two more penalties to take the lead until the breakthrough came at last. Attacking with ferocity in the Northallerton 22-metre area, a short, inside pass put a Vandals runner through untouched and underneath the posts. The conversion was added. The rest of the first half was played in a similar style of both teams showing their mettle in defence, the visitors having the slight edge on the physicality whilst North dominated the scrum and lineout. On the stroke of half time a smart passage of play from Vandals saw them push the ball from one touchline to the other and found space to squeeze their winger over in the corner to score their second try. This gave the away side a half time lead of 3-21.
Certain that Northallerton would not take this lying down, the half time team talk worked and the hosts came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders. Securing the ball, they set about imposing their style of play and dictated the tempo of the next quarter of the game. Relentlessly attacking the Vandals’ try line the retaliatory try was eventually scored by winger Ben Pilling who ran hard at the line and ducked under the tackles to reach out and dot the ball down. Vandal’s responded with another penalty before a yellow card for a high tackle saw them reduced to fourteen players. Quick to take advantage, North pressed the attack again and were able to find the try line as hooker JP Coyne squeezed under a mass of bodies in a rolling maul to reduce the deficit. This was cancelled out soon after by a well worked score from Vandals who moved the ball to their winger and took advantage of an overlap to score in the corner. The conversion was again kicked. The heart and
determination of North was on show for all to see as, even with the score line against them, they continued to run hard in attack and put their bodies on the line in an attempt to have the last word of the game. A last ditch effort in defence from the visitors held North up on the try line to end a fascinating game of rugby. The final score for the game was Northallerton 15 – Halifax Vandals 31.
A big thank you to the referee for officiating very well, to the Vandals who travelled in big numbers and thoroughly deserved their win, and to all the volunteers at the club who helped make the day happen.

The men’s second XV who had enjoyed a reasonably fruitful start to the season played their first game of the new year away at Acklam RUFC in the next round of the Tees Valley League. It was a strong team that ran out onto the park with a few returning old faces there to take part in what North were treating as Dicko’s birthday bash. The hosts fully intended to spoil the party though and put North on the back foot straight away by playing wide and scoring under the posts. North had to quickly regroup and attacked hard off the back of a line out for a push over try in the corner scored by Trev. Both teams continued to trade tries with centre Harry Patch scoring twice for North on his return to the side. However, a reply from Acklam and a penalty kick on the stroke of the half meant the hosts led at the break by three points.
The second half had everything to play for and both teams went for it, moving the ball around the field with both the backs and the forwards involved. The busy trade in tries continued, North took the lead through the pace of winger Reece Brammah who gathered up a loose ball and sprinted clear to score. Acklam were quick to follow though and scored a well worked try out wide after putting the defence under pressure for several phases. Ben Robinson and Ben Gray had the scores towards the end of the match that helped to keep the lead in North’s hands despite a late effort from Acklam to snatch the game back. The final score for the match was Acklam 32 – Northallerton 36. A big thank you to Acklam for their generous hospitality and to the referee for officiating the game.

The under 15’s played host to Billingham RUFC in a rematch from 2023. North were victorious in their last meeting a played like a side brimming with confidence. Moving the ball across the field with sharp passing and deft offloads they found ways to cut through the visitors’ defence. This yielded tries for Will Robinson, Sam Pearce, Jake Fisher, Hayden Norton and Oliver Pattison with two of them converted. In response though, Billingham showcased their attacking talent and managed to score two tries of their own after several phases of well worked possession to make the final score line a very respectable Northallerton 29 – Billingham 10. Congratulations to the under 15’s who continue their winning run this season and a big thank you to all the volunteers who help make the day happen.

For any readers interested in playing rugby, the men train on Tuesday and Thursday 7pm, the ladies train on Wednesday 7pm and the juniors play on Sunday 10am. All ages and abilities welcome, please contact the club on social media for more information.