Northallerton RUFC had three senior teams in action in a mixture of home and away fixtures. The men’s first XV travelled to one of their furthest locations to play against Huddersfield Laund Hill RUFC whilst the second XV hosted Acklam RUFC at the Lodge, both in their respective league fixtures. On the Sunday, the ladies first XV played Houghton ladies in the latest round of their NC3 North league.

The ladies’ first XV were determined to keep their top spot in the table and their charge for promotion as they made the journey up to Houghton RUFC. The team started brightly and within minutes, captain Abby Robinson thundered over the line after gathering a loose ball from a charged down kick. Keen to show they had improved since the previous meeting, Houghton fought back by pinning North against their own try line with some hard carries from the forwards. After using the heavy approach for a spell, the hosts opted to employ some deft handling from their backs to find a way over the try line to take the lead with a conversion. North retaliated quickly and, from the restart, had Houghton flustered in possession through the use of their quick line speed in defence. This forced handling errors from the home side that North were alert to and able to capitalise on. Turning defence into attack, the visitors made a charge for the line, Natalie Gardiner was on hand to pick the ball out of the ruck and dive in under the posts with Ali O’Brien adding the extras. The ladies were forced to weather a passage of attacking phases from Houghton and showed great patience to hold firm and wait for the right time to go for the turnover. Once the ball was back in hand, O’Brien kicked it long up field for debutant Amy Parker to chase. Running at full tilt, she managed to scoop the ball up then break the tackle of the first defender before dragging the last defender over the try line in the corner to score. O’Brien kicked the conversion from out wide with a fantastic effort.
The remainder of the first half played out with North withstanding continued attacking possession from Houghton. When the visitors did have the ball, they managed to make headway with a variety of attacking options. Robinson added two more tries to wrap up a first half hat-trick for her in a terrific showing of leading by example. At half time North led with the score board reading 7-29.
The ladies were unwilling to take their foot off the gas, instead choosing to make a point with their performance in the second half. Prop forward Amy Pointon showed her power with a thundering charge over the line, taking several defenders with her. Houghton had also managed to regather themselves at the interval and set about imposing their style of play on the game but were unable to find the critical pass to break over the try line. North soaked up all the pressure thrown at them and, once the resolve of the hosts had begun to wane, made a late dash to embellish the scoreboard. O’Brien ran in two well-taken tries, and added the conversion to one as well. With both teams exhausted from an intense game that made the most of the delightful sunny, dry conditions, the referee called time on the afternoon with the final
score reading Houghton 7 – Northallerton 48. Forward of the match was awarded to Gina Fothergill, back of the match to Amy Parker, and player of the match was awarded to Emily McCormack. Many thanks to Houghton for their generous hospitality, to the referee for officiating the game in a fair and friendly manner, and to all of North’s supporters who travelled to cheer on the team.

The long away trip had clearly taken its toll on the men’s first XV and a slow warm up foretold a slow start, which is what transpired. From the kick off, North won the ball but were unable to retain it for long. The hosts took no time to spread it wide for their pacey backs to explore the wider channels and capitalise with an early try. This proved to be the shake-up that North needed. The restart was lofted high into the air by flyhalf Ollie Walters and with a crunching tackle for the catcher, North were able to dislodge the ball and win the scrum in a commanding position. This has been a dominant facet of the game for the team this season and so it was again. As the pressure came on from the visitor’s forwards, the referee awarded a penalty that North kicked to the corner. The usual drill entailed that saw a catch and drive off the lineout resulting in a try scored by hooker Seamus Talbot. North seemed to settle into their rhythm and started to exert some control over proceedings. By moving the ball away from the home side’s large forward pack, they managed to earn some good metres and put North into a strong attacking position. Number eight Iain Swall continued his regular habit of scoring tries with another running a strong line and stretching out to dot the ball down. The slow start seemed a long way behind them as North continued to make the most of their momentum. A repeat of previous tactics yielded similar returns, and it wasn’t much later that the visitors found themselves encamped on the Laund Hill try line throwing bodies at the defensive wall. With no way through around the ruck, the ball was spread wider to Walters who spotted a dogleg in the defence and stepped his way through to score the try and managing to convert it himself to extend North’s lead going into the half time break with the scoreboard reading 5-17 in the visitor’s favour.
On the resumption of play, North continued their pressure on the home side. Forcing an error in an accidental offside from the restart, the visitors punted the ball into the corner. Another catch and drive drill allowed Swall to steer the maul over the line and score his second try of the day. Having established a reasonable lead, the intensity seemed to drop slightly out of the side and the hosts took full advantage by increasing the physicality of their carrying to force North onto the back foot. Two tries in quick succession for Laund Hill brought the score board back to a close affair. Then followed another spell of dominance for the home side as they continued to use their big forward pack to create holes through the middle of North’s defence. Tackles were missed as fatigue began to set in. Taking full advantage, the hosts pressed on and scored another series of four quick tries that took the wind out of North’s sails and the scoreboard away from them. The fight and determination that have been hallmarks of this North team for several seasons came to the fore once more as they refused to lie down and continued to take the game to the home side. Another push over try from a lineout maul brought North back within striking distance and gained them some good momentum to go into the last quarter of the game. It was the turn of turn of George Spink to show his attacking credentials. Finding himself in an unusual amount of space when the ball was spread to the backs, he cut a lovely line back against the grain that took him clear over the try line for another North score. Despite hammering in to the Laund Hill tacklers, North were unable to find that half gap either out wide or in tight that could deliver the victory and the game ended with a final score of Huddersfield Laund Hill 41 – Northallerton 36. An enthralling game to watch that showed the progress the team have made this season. Many thanks to Laund Hill for their generous hospitality, to the referee for officiating the game and to the many supporters who travelled to cheer the team on.

The mens’ second XV hosted top of the league Acklam Talbots, looking to spoil their perfect run of form this season. North’s typical mixture of experience and youth was on show once again as James Burke, Archie Norris and Tom Vauvert became the latest juniors to make the step up to senior rugby joining their teammates Will Robinson and Jake Fisher in the side. From the off, North played with a blistering tempo to their game. It wasn’t long before the youthful legs and quick thinking of scrum half Robinson scored the opening try of the game, sniping around the ruck from five metres out. This seemed to wake the league leaders up from their slumber and a flurry of tries ensued thanks to their quick hands through the whole side. This put them firmly in control of the tie. North fought hard and used their size in the forwards to gain momentum and territory with it. Crisp handling from the backs when the opportunity arose resulted in the ball reaching centre Ben Gray who burst through the onrushing defence and charged his way to the Acklam line, scoring the try to reduce the deficit. The visitors responded in short notice and pushed hard at the hosts from a rumbling maul that brought rewards of a penalty try after a number of infringements from the hosts. This was followed almost immediately off the restart by another try, this one utilising the Acklam backs as they showed the quality that has taken them to the top of the league this season. As the half drew to a close, a moment of inspiration from fly half Dan Luck saw him put a perfectly weighted spiral punt into the Acklam’s try area. The chase from Jake Fisher was quick enough to see him outstrip his opposite man
and dive on the bouncing ball to score it before it ran dead. The appreciative applause from both sets of supporters told of the quality on show. At half time North found themselves trailing 15-38 but with plenty of promising signs.
The second half saw Acklam’s backs get their hands on the ball straight from the kick off and ship it to their winger who raced away to score what turned out to be their last try of the day as North took control of the game. A red card was shown to number eight Connah Richmond that heaped the pressure onto North, forcing the rest of the pack to double their efforts. This endeavour was rewarded with tries from Theo Thompson and Chris Anderson which put North back into contention heading into the last ten minutes. Despite the best efforts of all the North players, the breakthrough needed to take the game didn’t arrive and in the end the game finished with a final score of Northallerton 25 – Acklam 38. A very entertaining encounter that showcased some of the best qualities of both teams. A big thank you to the referee for officiating the game, to the Acklam players and supporters for travelling in good numbers and to all of North’s volunteers who helped make the day happen.

For 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 Sunday10am. All ages and abilities welcome, please contact the club on social media for more information.