Northallerton RUFC fielded two teams at home from the men’s senior squad this weekend as the first XV took on Baildon in a league match whilst the second XV entertained Wensleydale RUFC second XV in a friendly fixture.

A brisk and unseasonably sunny day saw Northallerton and Wensleydale rugby clubs put both their second XV teams on the field to compete for the local bragging rights in a friendly fixture. North’s team was made up of their typical mix of experience and youth as several of the younger players who have come through this year continued their learning alongside the more veteran members of the squad. It was this mix of players that proved most effective for North on the day. The hosts began the match playing up the slope and took the fight straight into the
Dale defence, carrying the ball hard to get over the gain line. Inside the opening few minutes, a loose ball from North was scooped away from a ruck on the half way line into the hands of outside centre Ben Gray who collected it and waved his way past several defenders before crashing through the covering tackle to dive over the try line and open the scoring after a successful conversion. Switching into defensive
duties off the restart, North looked to put pressure on the visitors with some quick line speed and cutting ball carriers down quickly. A brilliantly timed intercept on the back of this pressure from fellow centre Ollie Redding set him away up the field before finding his supporting runner, debutant Archie Norris who thundered up the line and dived over to extend North’s lead.
Wensleydale refused to take this lying down however, and came alive after the game restarted, moving the ball quickly across the pitch to find spaces out wide after punching holes through the middle of the host’s defence. This score was quickly followed by a penalty try for the visitors. The offending incident being a high tackle in an attacking opportunity close to the line. After all this excitement the referee blew
for half time with the scores tied at 12-12.
North kicked off the second half, this time playing down hill and with a renewed fervour. A quick tap penalty from Gray created the tempo to move the ball into the hands of winger Jake Fisher who stepped outside his opposite man and flew into the corner to score the try, adding another to his already impressive tally this season. Dale wasted no time in replying to this and were straight back into the attack, again using their pace in the wider areas of the pitch to great effect and getting onto the outside of the North defence. It wasn’t long before the equalising try followed the tied up the match heading into the last quarter of the tie. It was at this point that North brought on the experienced duo of Doug Mullholland and Dan Luck. Their effect was immediately felt as the tempo of the game increased which was optimised with a tap penalty from Mulholland that found David Baker who crashed over the try line to give North the lead once more. In a spectacular end to the game, both Dale and North went all out for the win. Good attacking play was met with solid defence, and it took an inspired moment from North to seal the win. A clever inside pass from Mulholland found Luck on a short line that broke him through the defence. An almighty effort saw Luck roll back the years and sprint clear of the chasing defenders, charging the seventy-odd metres to the try line to make certain the victory. Fortunately for Lucky this also brought the game to an end with North claiming the bragging rights for the year with a final score of Northallerton 27 – Wensleydale 19. Many thanks to the referee for officiating the match, to Wensleydale and their supporters for travelling in good numbers and to all the volunteers at the club who helped make the game happen.

Meanwhile, in front of the clubhouse, Northallerton’s men’s first XV took on Baildon RUFC in the return fixture of their league matches. Earlier in the season the score line had reflected a reasonably tight encounter between the two sides. Expectations were high amongst the players that this was a game ripe for the taking. North started positively, looking to use their main attacking weapons off the lineout after kicking for
territory. It was prop forward Connah Richmond who s cored the opening try of the day off the back of a successful rolling maul which went over in the corner. Baildon were also keen to show their attacking strengths, moving the ball wide into the hands of their quicker backs who found the gaps and scored a retaliatory converted try. The game was providing great entertainment for the spectators and it wasn’t long
before North took the lead again, this time it was number eight Iain Swall who added another try to his tally, running a hard, cutting line off a regathered kick through to crash over the try line. The theme for much of the match started to unfold as Baildon again, looked to move the ball into the hands of their dangerous backs. This time it was a ruck turnover in midfield that offered the starting platform for their attacking
endeavour, finished off by their full back who left several defenders in his wake to score the try. This score was followed up by another try to the visitors who put several good phases together to manipulate the defence and find a space in the corner. The back-and-forth nature of the game continued as North set about imposing their style of play on the game again. Strong carries from the forwards enabled North to get on the front foot and ship the ball out to winger Luke Sutherland who ran in from the halfway line passing several chasing defenders with his pace. At the halfway point the game seemed evenly balanced with North trailing by seven. Either side could have built on their momentum. A substitution early in the second half from the visitors introduced their experienced full back into the game who wasted no time in announcing himself to North. After a succession of phases of play from the away side, working their way inexorably up the pitch, they moved the ball into the hands of the replacement who stepped past the defence and scored the try to extend their lead. He followed this first act up with a spiralling kick from his own half that landed in North’s 22-metre area and then bounced out to touch giving the visitors a tremendous attacking platform to work from. Despite not making the most of this opportunity, North’s clearance kick to touch was fielded by Baildon who passed it quickly to their replacement fullback who, once again, cut through the on rushing tacklers to dot down for a second converted try. To complete his impactful performance, the same player proceeded to fully underline his attacking credentials with a strong run from his own half that led to him scoring under the posts with a converted try that took the game away from North. Despite this significant change in fortune, North continued to battle away and picked up the tempo of their attack with some slick offloading that broke through the Baildon lines and enabled centre Ed Neville to take full advantage and drive his way over the line to secure North the four-try bonus point at least. Baildon it was who had the last say of the game, scoring another try in similar style to their others, out wide after some crisp handling to round the game off with a final score of Northallerton 22 – Baildon 45. An entertaining and free flowing game to watch that shows a lot of the improvements the team have made over the season. Many thanks to the referee for officiating the match, to Baildon and their supporters for travelling in good numbers, and to the many supporters and volunteers who help make the day happen as well as cheering on the lads.

To any readers who would like to join the rugby club, the men train on Tuesday and Thursday 7pm, the ladies train on Wednesday 7pm and the juniors play on Sunday 10am. Please contact the club on social media, all ages and abilities welcome.