Clean sweep of wins for the senior teams in challenging fixtures.

North had teams home and away this week as the men’s first XV travelled away to Skipton RUFC having played out a close encounter at the Lodge earlier in the season. The second XV hosted local side Richmondshire RUFC at the Lodge whilst the U15s played a match against Ripon RUFC at the Lodge on the Sunday. The U13s took part in a round robin tournament also at home and the ladies travelled up the A19 to play Hartlepool RUFC for the second time in as many weeks.

Having been in the dark about what to expect in their last encounter, North’s ladies headed to Hartlepool RUFC knowing what was coming and how to counter it. They started quickly and with intent, pinning the home side back as the forwards took charge of the game. Every carry hit the home side back and offered space for the backs. Utilising this space, the backs moved the play around the pitch before a few more heavy carries from the forwards saw prop Amy Pointon punch through the defence and score the opening try. Ali O’Brien added the extras and the match was on. The game flowed well for both sides, pressure being applied capably in attack and defence. North hit Hartlepool with gusto and, as the defence began to narrow, the backs launched an assault, shipping the ball wide to winger Lucy Robinson who ran in North’s second try out wide.
The hosts came out in second half with a sharper focus as they attacked ferociously and pinned North back in their own half. Great jackaling work at the breakdown resulted in several turnovers and forced handling errors with O’Brien able to keep relieving pressure through clearing kicks and clever game management. With the game still able to go either way, North put everything into their attack. As the visitors made ground with nearly every carry, it was only some stout defending from the hosts that stopped North just short of the line. The ever-reliable centre Emily McCormack broke through eventually to score the away side’s third try of the game. The game played out it’s last quarter with North on the front foot again, trying relentlessly to get the ball past the Hartlepool defence. Phase after phase of strong carrying from the forwards put North deep into the home side’s 22-metre area looking for the try that would seal the win. The ball was shipped out from a
ruck to find back-row forward Gina Fothergill loitering with intent in the wider channels. Determination coursed through the defensive efforts from Hartlepool and, despite a mighty charge to the line from Fothergill they were able to force the knock on that ended the match.
Final score was Hartlepool 0 – Northallerton 17. Forward of the match was awarded to Charlotte Swall, back of the match to Issy Andrew and opposition’s choice for player of the match given to Ali O’Brien. Congratulations to the team who, with this win, have secured second place in their league with games still to go. Many thanks to Hartlepool for being such good hosts and playing a well spirited, entertaining game. Thanks also to the referee for officiating and to the many spectators and volunteers who support the team.

Northallerton’s U15s played at the Lodge on the same day that the ladies were away. The U13 side took part in a round robin against Redcar and Bishop Auckland rugby clubs on the 2nd team pitch. With plenty of spectators watching, all sides put on a show to entertain by showing off many of the skills worked on in training and playing end to end rugby. No scores were kept for the games with rugby decided as the overall winner this day. Great fun was had by all the players and supporters alike and the club anticipates more of the same in future matches from this age group. Meanwhile, the U15’s side who have had a stellar season so far hosted Ripon RUFC, a club with a renowned strength in their junior section for what was expected to be the sternest test for this developing side so far. Keen to show they can compete with the best out there, North’s boys played out of their skins throwing all efforts into tackling and defence before pouncing on any opportunities to attack. The
organisation or Ripon and their skills when it mattered showed throughout the game though and they were able to mount a lead which North couldn’t overhaul. A spectacular try from Oli Pattinson brought some consolation to the hosts who shouldn’t be disheartened by the result as the performance showed plenty of promise for future matches.
The final score for the day was Northallerton 5 – Ripon 29. Many thanks to all volunteers, referees, spectators and supporters involved who helped put on a tremendous day of rugby at the club.

The men’s first XV were off to Skipton RUFC still looking to maintain their place as the number one side in the league. Having had a physical battle at home to Skipton earlier in the season, North knew what awaited them in the Dales as they made the long bus ride into the hills. From the kick off Norths set their stall out for the game, putting the ball long into the home territory and forcing the hosts into touch with the resulting pressure. This gifted the visitors their first line out of the game and, being the strength it has been this season, yielded an early try for number eight Iain Swall off the back of the resulting maul. Skipton responded with a penalty kick as North failed to clear their lines from the restart. After defending for many phases in the Skipton half, North managed to forced a knock on that allowed the first scrum of the day to take place. This had been a close contest at the Lodge but this time North were determined to stamp their authority in the forwards. Driving the scrum a good 15 metres North set a platform and an example of the danger for the hosts. This warning came to fruition for the visitors as they had another scrum closer to the try line later in the half from which they drove over and Swall flopped onto the ball to score his and the team’s second try of the day. Jedd Bainbridge kicked the conversion to extend the lead. This continued pressure from the forwards opened up spaces out wide as defenders were dragged in to fill the holes. North’s backs, keen to show their ability as well, spun the ball wide on multiple occasions. Centre Ollie Walters and full back Tom Peacock punched holes and stepped through gaps to create line breaks as Skipton struggled to grapple with the pace and organisation of North’s attack. Tries and penalties continued to flow for North throughout the first half and the score board gave the visitors a healthy lead at the break.
The second half began with a quick score for North, centre Joe Greiff threw a dummy to open a hole in the defence for himself and surged through to go one on one with the full back. Always hungry for the contact he managed to ride the tackle of the full back and off load to Walters who dived over for the try. Bainbridge added the extras. After this spell of energy the tempo dropped for North, as often happens in such a situation, and Skipton were quick to react. Linking their backs and forwards to carry hard and direct, they managed to punch through the line, taking North’s territory for their own and hunting for the try line. After withstanding the assault for a quarter of the game, North’s
defence eventually broke and Skipton drove over for their only try of the game. With the game coming to a close there were still two more tries left to be found as Swall completed a hat-trick, his second in a few weeks after returning from injury. With the result seemingly decided it was only pride left to play for and both teams held true to this, the ferocity of the game not dropping until the final whistle went. The score at the end of the match read Skipton RUFC 8 – Northallerton RUFC 45. A big thank you to Skipton for their generous hospitality and to the referee for officiating the match.

The only team at home on the Saturday was the men’s second XV. Having had a stop start fixture list at the beginning of the season, the continuity of games enjoyed over the last few months has certainly brought improvements as the same core of players are getting regular game time together. This was encapsulated within the performance against local team Richmondshire RUFC’s second XV as North played with a cohesion and determination to over-power their opponents in an entertaining game for the crowds watching on. Try scorers for the day were Reece Brammah with a brace, Connah Richmond, Harry Robinson, Ben Robinson and Ben Gray who also kicked three of the conversions. The final score for the match was Northallerton 36 – Richmondshire 15. Many thanks to Shire for playing such a well spirited game, thanks to the referee for officiating and thanks to all the volunteers and supporters at the club who helped make the game happen.