In the final round of fixtures before the Christmas break, North’s men’s and ladies’ first XVs were both in action, on the road to Roundhegians and Hartlepool respectively. With their seasons on different trajectories so far, both teams were looking to head into the break with a win.

Northallerton’s ladies first XV were on the road in their last league match of 2024 against rivals Hartlepool, both sides running close in the table so far. From the off, North exerted pressure through their possession and soon had Hartlepool pinned against their own tryline looking to hold out the visitors. The forward pack hammered the hosts with carries around the fringes of the ruck picking up the pace with each phase until Gina Fothergill smashed her way over for the game’s opening try out wide. Ali O’Brien managed to kick the conversion in very windy conditions to add the extras.
The speed at the breakdown was proving useful to North and a key part of their attacking game. Plenty of big line breaks from the forwards saw North march up the pitch often breaking through three defenders at a time. With Hartlepool again back up to their own posts, it was O’Brien this time who received a pass, darted in the opposite direction and dived for the line to score the try, once again adding the extras. North carried on their barrage of aggression, ramping up the pressure with every attack which forced Hartlepool to start making mistakes, often letting their disciple slip as well. The penalties that came into the game offered opportunities for North to take quick tap penalties that kept the hosts under pressure. Gina Fothergill was on the receiving end of one of these taps and ran an arcing run before clattering through several defenders to score her second try of the game and North’s third. The game really started to flow for North at this point. Line breaks by several players, quickly supported by their teammates meant that the attacks never stopped.
Natalie Gardiner was the next name on the score sheet, dotting the ball down in the corner after a quick pick up at a ruck. Soon after this, captain Abby Robinson smashed her way through the middle of the opposition pack to run another try in for North. As the first half drew to a close, Emily McCormack beat several defenders in open play with her speed and footwork to put her name on the scoreboard and give
O’Brien the chance to add some more points, extending their lead to 0-38 at the interval.

The second half commenced, and Hartlepool stepped up their efforts, now with the wind at their back and their fighting spirit shining through. They managed to push North back after a long period of attacking play and eventually found a gap in the defence that they exploited to secure their first try of the game. North were visibly frustrated by the slip in defence and were quick to reply with a wonderfully worked
team try. The basics of attacking rugby done right and done quick meant that the ball reached winger Wiktoria Johnson in space who handed off the covering defender and outpaced the chasers to score. Both team’s efforts carried long into the half with large periods of possession for either side. Huge tackles were being put in by several players and this enabled good turnovers at the breakdown for North that slowly pushed Hartlepool back into their own territory. In a similar fashion to their opening try, they pinned the hosts back before distributing the ball to Laura
Isherwood who dived over the line to score. It was Hartlepool who had the last of the points for the day, scoring in the final throws of the game from a well worked lineout routine that moved North’s defenders to create the space to get to the try line. The game ended with a final score of
Hartlepool 10 – Northallerton 48. Another high scoring, high intensity afternoon of rugby that saw all supporters well entertained. Player of the match was awarded to Gina Fothergill, forward of the match to Emma Linthwaite and back of the match to Natalie Gardiner. Many thanks to Hartlepool for hosting graciously, to the referee for officiating the match and the many members of the club who have supported the
ladies throughout the year.

The men’s first XV were also away at Roundhegians RUFC for their last game of the calendar year looking for the win that would lift the spirits before the Christmas break. Knowing that the hosts would field a youthful and energetic side, North’s strategy from the off was to use their size and experience in the forward pack to pin them in the corners. Following the kick off, this plan seemed to have some legs as the clearance kick was only short and North had an attacking platform close to the try line. Unfortunately, the hosts had also read their brief and anticipated North’s approach, cleverly electing not to engage at the maul and from this, the visitors were penalised for a “truck and trailer” manoeuvre. This was compounded when ‘Hegians managed to claim the resulting lineout and build an attack from a useful position inside North’s half. The tackling from the away side was fierce and it was a lack of discipline around the breakdown, rather than a lack of will that gifted the hosts the opportunity to open the scoring.
Despite this early set back, North continued to keep to their game plan which did offer glimpses of success. Good attacking positions often did not fulfil their promise as the hosts would soak up the phases, often conceding territory, before turning over the ball from some North ill-discipline. One of these scenarios saw the home side play from deep within their own half, spinning the ball out quickly to the wider channels to utilise their pace on the wings. North gave away a penalty for hands in the ruck which allowed Roundhegians to kick the ball long, looking to move the game into the visitor’s half. North did a good job of disrupting the lineout but from the chaos, an unfortunate collision meant that flanker Matty Clark was forced to leave the field after failing a HIA, Harry Huyser came on to take his place. This break in play seemed to have dissipated some of the pressure for a short while until a sharp running line from the ‘Hegian’s outside centre cut straight through to the try line and notched the host’s second try of the afternoon. This proved to be a crucial score in the context of what had been a closely fought game so far. From this point, the ill discipline that had beset North started to boil over and several more penalties were conceded that gave the home side opportunities to add a third try to their tally. With the penalty count now well into double figures and climbing, the referee was given no choice but to start issuing cards. North received two yellows in quick succession for repeated offences towards the end of the first half. At the half time interval, it did seem that, if the discipline could be regained, then the game was still contestable as much of North’s attacking play had shown promise throughout the first half. Unfortunately for the visitors, the early exchanges after play resumed saw Roundhegians spotting the space out wide and putting the ball quickly through the hands to score another try, securing the bonus point and cementing their lead. Having seen out the sin binning periods and back up to a full compliment of players, North realised their only way back into the match was to cut the penalties by holding the ball tight. Building pressure on the hosts by putting together a long string of phases, North’s forwards trundled the ball towards the goal line and, with an almighty heave, Iain Swall was able to give the final push and score the try that got North onto the scoreboard. The physical toll that this way of playing took on North turned out to be too much for their fitness levels to maintain on this day and, as the last twenty minutes of the match came around, North’s defence began to waver through fatigue and the hosts found the fringes of the pitch to be fruitful endeavours for their attacking talents, scoring two more tries through turnover possession. This put paid to any thoughts of a North fightback and with that in mind, the visitors decided to throw caution to the wind play a riskier game. Despite offering some useful opportunities, the levels of fatigue meant that mistakes were inevitable and from these the hosts were able to take advantage and
add several late tries to their score to finish off the game. The match finished with a final score of Roundhegians 47 – Northallerton 5. Many
thanks to Roundhegians for their generous hospitality, to the referee for officiating the match and to the supporters who have always travelled to help cheer on the team.

To any readers who would like to play rugby in Northallerton, please contact the club on social media for more information. Training will recommence in the new year. All ages and abilities welcome.