Congratulations to the Northallerton RUFC ladies’ first XV who have been crowned champions of the NC3 North East league and capped off a fantastic season with a short journey to play Yarm Swifts in the last league match of the year. Form the men’s side, Northallerton RUFC fielded both senior teams in the last weekend of league action. The men’s first XV travelled to Bradford and Bingley RUFC whilst the men’s second XV hosted Ripon 2nd XV in a rearranged fixture at the Lodge.

The ladies first XV made the short hop over to Yarm for their final league match of the season. With the NC3 North East league title already secured after a series of stellar performances throughout the season and other team’s results going their way, this match was simply about redemption for their uncharacteristic start where they narrowly lost to Yarm in a hard-fought contest during the opening rounds. The sun was shining and many club members along with their families had made the trip to support the team.
The early stages of the game were frantic as both sides looked to gain that slight advantage that would give them the momentum. This brought many handling errors from all players and not much of a foothold for either team. It was crucial that North played to their advantage when the ball was in their hands. It was the visitors who were first to break the deadlock after several phases of play, every single player on the team contributed to securing and recycling the ball before it landed in the hands of centre Emily McCormack and she flew over the line to score the opening try with flyhalf Ali O’Brien kicking the extras.
Yarm fought back quickly to level the scores by moving the ball quickly through the hands to exploit spaces in the defence. Converting their try took the scores to seven a piece. The game was held this way for much of the first half as both sides through everything they had at each other, trying to break through. It was North again who provided the key to unlocking the game, Cara Williams blasting her way through several tiring tacklers before sprinting clear to run in the try. O’Brien was on target again to make the most of the score and took North into half time with a slender seven-point lead.
With the game very much in the balance, the team instructions over the interval were clear; keep it up, don’t give them an inch, run hard and tackler even harder. The message seemed to sink in to everyone well as, within two minutes of the restart, O’Brien was running clear over the try line after a succession of monstrous carries from the forwards. Yarm were again, quick to retaliate with some good phases of their own. Using their size in the forwards to draw defenders in and create the spaces out wide for their backs to exploit. Full back Issy Andrew was called into action to quash the attack on multiple occasions and keep the hosts to the one score. It was Andrew who reaped the rewards for her defensive displays by latching onto the end of a team effort in attack to run in North’s fourth try to take the visitors well clear of the home side. The conversion struck the upright and spilled outside of the posts.
North had begun to settle into the game, the early nerves had dissipated, and the passes were fizzing nicely between the players. Clearly the ladies were starting to enjoy themselves and play some champagne rugby. “Sonny Bill” Fothergill showed tremendous dexterity to flick the ball out of the back of her hand and set the mood for the style of play that was to follow. Yarm’s defence began to tire as the pace of the game inflicted a gruelling toll on their energy reserves. As the substitutes came on for North and the bench emptied, the team seemed only to get stronger as Josie Arthur and Georgia Wilkinson proved very effective in attack. An impressive debut from Lucy Patey caught the eye of the spectators as she slotted into several positions within the side without missing a beat and will surely prove a very useful asset to the team going forward.
North’s refusal to take their foot off the gas until the final whistle has been a feature of the side this season, evidence if any were needed, of a group enjoying playing for each other. This approach has proved fruitful so far and was once again so as, with only ten minutes left on the clock, the tackles kept thundering in, prop forward Amy Pointon leading the charge and clattering into the persistent Yarm runners at every opportunity, often dislodging the ball and giving the away side the chance to counter. McCormack, O’Brien and Natalie Gardiner capitalised on these opportunities to run in tries later in the game to embellish the score line further.
The match ended with a final score of Yarm Swifts 7 – Northallerton 42 and the celebrations commenced right away as the team were confirmed as champions of the NC3 North East League for 2024-25. Forward of the match was awarded to Amy Pointon, back of the match went to Issy Andrew and player of the match was awarded to Emily McCormack. Thank you to Yarm rugby club for hosting and playing in fine spirits. Many thanks to the referee for officiating the match and to the many loyal supporters who have travelled to cheer on the team throughout the whole season. A final thank you goes to the coaches Steve Robinson and Ed Bulman for their tireless contributions to the team and to the numerous helpers who have made sure the team continues to thrive throughout the season.

The men’s first XV made the lengthy journey over to Bradford and Bingley in their final league match of the season. A fast start from both teams meant that the game was played at a frantic pace, creating plenty of opportunities for scoring. The hosts were the first to register a try, the hefty number eight crashing through the middle of the defence and dragging tacklers with him over the line. North wasted no time in setting their game plan into motion. Working their way steadily up the field, the visitors gained some useful field position to attack from. Scrum half Jack Tart spotted a sizeable gap behind the defence and with a deft flick of his boot, he knocked the ball over into the space for winger Will Adam to run through, gather and calmy dot down over the line.
The retaliation from the home side was swift, keeping in with the pace of the game. They worked the ball through several phases in the middle of the field before finding that soft shoulder to break the line and put them in behind the visitor’s defence. Through the use of good supporting play they carried the ball over the try line to retake the lead. North’s trusty routine of the catch and drive off the lineout was called upon to bring them back into contention. A penalty kicked deep into the corner gave them the platform required and, sure enough the ball was thrown to Iain Swall at the top before transferring back in the maul to George Spink who guided the maul over the line. At the half time break, the hosts held a two point advantage with the score at 14-12.
This timely score galvanised the visitors and after the break they used this momentum to get themselves on the front foot. Straight from the restart Swall caught the ball on the charge and burst through the onrushing tacklers before offloading to Callum Poppit who used his speed to finish the try. Just as the game seemed to be swinging in North’s favour, the hosts found another gear to shift into and realised the spaces to be had were out in the wider channels. Utilising their speed on the wings, the home side managed to score four tries in a twenty-minute spell that took the game away from North. The visitors had found themselves down to fourteen players due to repeated infringements for part of this try scoring blitz. Once North were back to their full complement of players, they managed to stop the rut and did in fact turn the tide back in their favour by scoring two well-taken tries. Tom Peacock and Ben Blythe were the late try scorers as North began to throw the ball around more freely. The clock was against North though as the game wound to close with the final score reading Bradford and Bingley 38 – Northallerton 27. Man of the match was awarded to Iain Swall, however mention must be given to Will Robinson who has stepped up commendably into senior rugby this season from North’s junior age grades and once again put in a strong performance in this game. Many thanks to Bradford and Bingley for their generous hospitality and to the referee for officiating the match.
Many thanks to all of the supporters who have loyally cheered on the team during what has been a difficult season. Great thanks to the coaches Steve Robinson and Ed Bulman for all of their efforts and tireless enthusiasm in training the team.
The men’s second XV have enjoyed a relatively successful season in the round. Balancing a mixture of regular victories on the field with the introduction of the first crop of youth players from North’s junior ages grades into the senior squads has not been an easy task, however it is one that seems to have benefited all and leaves the supporters looking forward to more next season. In their final game of the calendar, North turned out a squad of twenty four players, the most this season. Clearly the good weather was having its usual effect on availability. On this occasion, North took to the field at the Lodge against Ripon RUFC second XV in a repeat of the previous week’s fixture that had resulted in a close victory for Ripon. North started brightly, charging into tackles and carrying the ball with great ferocity meant that they forced Ripon back towards their own try line and it wasn’t long before second row Dan Rayner crashed over the line to score against his previous club. Ripon however, were quick to respond and, as had happened in the previous week, their quick outside backs proved an effective attacking weapon. Moving the ball into their hands they used their pace to exploit the spaces and scored three tries in short order to create a favourable lead.
Not to be deterred, North went back to their strengths and held the ball in the forward pack, recycling it effectively to march their way down the pitch towards the clubhouse. A tap penalty on the five-metre line gave an opportunity for Joe Grieff to show his power as he crashed through several tacklers to bring North back into the game. As the first half was drawing to a close, Ripon launched another attacking spell of possession. Two penalties in as many minutes from North infringements afforded Ripon a very valuable attacking position from which they moved the ball out wide once again to sneak around the edge of the defence.
On the resumption of play, North showed great ambition to attack with width from their own twenty-two metre area. Flanker Josh Nawton used his speed and footwork to break through a tackle and race up the pitch before offloading to his brother Tom to finish the score in the corner. Unfortunately for North this proved to be the end of their scoring for the afternoon as Ripon took the game by the scruff of the neck with a couple of tries from tap penalties that took the game away from North. Heading into the last throws of the match, North defended valiantly however, there is no substitute for pace and Ripon utilised theirs in abundance to finish the game with a flourish, scoring two more tries in the last minutes of the match to take the match with a final score of Northallerton 24 – Ripon 44. An entertaining end to what has been a successful season for North’s second XV. Many thanks to the referee for officiating the match, to Ripon for travelling at short notice and to the many supporters and helpers around the club who make the day happen.
That wraps up the league season for Northallerton RUFC but fear not, there is still more to come as the cup competition for the ladies gets underway with the team in action on Sunday 27th April away at Richmondshire rugby club. All are encouraged to come and support the team as they look to finish with a flourish what has been a remarkably successful season.
As is evident to any member or supporter of the club, there are a plethora of volunteers and helpers who work tirelessly to ensure there is a thriving rugby club in the heart of Northallerton. To you, and also to the many contributors of material for these match reports, thank you for your continued time and generosity, we look forward to next season already!
As always, for any readers who would like to join the club, please contact us on social media for more information. The men train on Tuesday and Thursday 7pm, the ladies train on Wednesday 7pm and the juniors play on Sunday 10am. All ages and abilities welcome.