GOOD FOR AN HOUR

Northallerton 1st team hosted Roundhegians at home and were more than equal for the first hour of the game before succumbing to a 7-21 defeat.

The first half was fairly even, with North being slightly dominant in the scrum but struggling in the lineout. Both teams were making errors in open play with knock - ons seeming to be the order of the day. The visitors had a chance to take the lead when awarded a penalty after 20 minutes, but for some inexplicable reason attempted to drop goal the kick which was closer to going for a lineout than scoring. Just before half time, North’s scrum half Nathan Cannel more than made up for last weeks misdemeanours by going on a jinking run from the base of a scrum. He avoided four tacklers before touching down in the corner, Ed Bulman excellently scored the conversion from near the touchline. HALF TIME 7-0

The second half was barely five minutes old when Tank Bainbridge found himself at scrum half and trying to clear the danger. But the visitors pressured the home defence and stole the ball, then somehow found a huge gap in North’s midfield to race away and score under the posts. The game then proceeded to lapse into a period of staleness for 15 minutes. Roundhegians then made three influential substitutes in the backs department that freshened their team up and changed their approach. North however were unable to do the same as they only had three fully fit subs – which were all forwards! The visitors scored two similar tries in the 60th and 65th minutes that were both attributed to their fly half’s creativeness and his supporting backs. North could never get back into the game despite some good work from Tom Young and Captain Don Stone. FINAL SCORE 21-7

Next week Northallerton 1st team are away at Thornensians.