Three senior teams took to the field this weekend for Northallerton RUFC. The men’s first and second XV travelled away to Bramley Phoenix RUFC and Guisborough RUFC respectively in their league matches whilst the ladies first XV hosted their rescheduled cup fixture against Old Brodleians RUFC at the Lodge. The ladies’ match was another significant occasion for the club as it saw the welcome arrival of the first girls to move up to the senior ladies’ team from the junior section. Congratulations to Beth Luck on her senior debut and to Emma Thompson-Brooke
who made her Northallerton debut this weekend.

At the second time of asking, Northallerton’s ladies welcomed Old Brodleians to Brompton Lodge for their rearranged round 3 fixture of the Women’s Junior Cup. North’s Ladies were keen to keep their cup run alive and made sure they got straight to work. A quick ruck speed, silky offloads and superb support play were endemic of the opening phases of play. With less than seven minutes on the clock, Gina
Fothergill went crashing over the line only to be held up by some stout defending from Brodleians. Sharp thinking from scrum half Trinity Earnshaw saw her take a tap penalty as the referee called play back to an earlier infringement, dart towards the line and pop the ball up to Laura Isherwood who dived over the try line for the game’s opening score. Ellie Readman added the conversion.
North were straight back to work and thumped their way up the pitch with the forwards and backs both carrying hard and hitting gaps all across the field. This time it was some smooth passing that landed the ball in the hands of Sarah Rowe who finished off the flowing move out in the corner. Brodleians had taken a while to get into their stride but found themselves enjoying a period of possession that pushed North back to their goal line. A crucial turnover from centre Emily McCormack put a swift end to the visitors’ attacking endeavours and as the ball was spun out wide to Earnshaw and Rowe again, North countered up the full length of the pitch. A few mighty hand offs in the process had Earnshaw diving under the posts to score the try. Readman added the extras.
Old Brodleians had another go at mounting an attack from the restart. After a long period of heavy carries from their forwards, they managed to split the North defence open and crashed over the try line to register their first score of the afternoon. This momentum was not long held though as North regathered under the posts and put together a fine backs move that opened up several gaps to run through. Lucy Patey made the telling carry that resulted in another try for North to restore the lead. At half time the hosts held a comfortable lead of 24-7.
The message at the break seemed to be to keep up the good work, and North responded with great enthusiasm. Two minutes was all it took for the hosts to get back on the score board, this time Amy Parker finished off in the corner after another demonstration of fluid backs play. The pace of scoring eased somewhat over the middle of the second half despite several good scoring opportunities being foiled by excellent scramble defending. Earnshaw broke the impasse with a replica of her earlier try, latching onto a turnover from Fothergill to sprint away and score under the posts making the conversion simple for Readman. With only ten minutes remaining in the fixture, North had the momentum firmly in their grasp and a spring in their step. Cara Williams showed her athleticism to fly over the try line after some delightful deft handling from the forward pack. This was not to be the last event of the game however, as Earnshaw looked to complete her hat-trick by collecting an inside pass once again from Parker to spring clear and score. The final score for the exhilarating match stood at Northallerton 46 – Old Brodleians 7. A game worth waiting for and on to the next round of the cup. Forward of the match was awarded to SJ Pritchard, back of the match to Lucy Patey and player of the match was awarded to Trinity Earnshaw. Many thanks to Brodleians for travelling in good numbers, to the referee for officiating the game and to all the volunteers at the club who help make the day happen.

The men’s first XV made the journey over to play familiar faces, Bramley Phoenix. As has been typical of the last few seasons, a similar league position has led to some closely fought encounters. This meeting proved true to type. North’s advantage over this opponent has always come through the strength of the forward pack. By starting with some hard carrying up front, North managed to assert their game plan and won a penalty at the breakdown, allowing a kick to the corner and the popular catch and drive maul to follow. Flanker Matt Argo was the first name on the scoresheet as he drove the maul over for the game’s opening try. The conversion was added by Jedd Bainbridge. Further fluid carrying within the forwards allowed North to engineer an attacking position once again close to Bramley goal line. This time it was blindside flanker Billy Burgin who managed to carry the ball the last crucial metre and powered his way over the try line.
The home side proved to be unshaken by this early success from North and duly managed to play to the conditions, utilising the wind at their backs to kick North back towards their goal line, mounting pressure with each passing minute. In spite of the stoic defending the visitors had to offer, a gap out wide proved to be the key to retaliation. Some swift passing through the hands of their backs allowed Bramley to canter over in the corner and score the try. Much as North had scored twice from their point of strength, so too did Bramley by repeating their attacking strategy of kicking long to pressure North before winning the ball back, spinning it wide and scoring in the corner. This time the conversion was kicked to bring the scores level at 12-12 as the first half came to a close.
The half time rousing speeches had left North perhaps too eager to push hard for the lead. A succession of ill-disciplined infringements from the away side meant that Bramley were able to exert their presence on the visitors, dictating the play and forcing North onto the back foot. Another converted try, this time scored from close range by the forward pack nudged the hosts into the lead. A second try, this time following a flurry of yellow cards to both sides gave Bramley a commanding twelve point lead. It took North a few minutes to regather themselves and, once back up to a full compliment of players, they managed to wrest the ball back and set about chasing the scoreboard. A couple of enticing 50:22 kicks from North’s playmakers put the visitors back in the Bramley half and from here it was the experience and power of the forward pack that took the ball over the line again for North’s third try of the day. This time it was Iain Swall who made the telling carry. Bainbridge kicked the conversion. North’s equalising score came shortly after this, the momentum of the game having swung strongly in the away side’s favour at this point. The restart kick was gathered by Swall who broke through several attempted tackles to gallop downfield. Prop Ed Meek was on his shoulder to collect the offload out of a tackle who used his wiser discretion and passed to winger Ross Easdon rather than take
on Bramley’s winger himself. Easdon used his pace to round the outside of the defence and, finishing off the flowing move he shipped the ball back inside to Jack Tart who dived over the try line for a sumptuous team score.
This had the scoreboard all level as the game passed into its last throws. With the momentum on their side, North opted to kick a potentially kickable penalty to the corner, relying on the tried and tested mauling routine to come up with a score. Unfortunately on this occasion it was not to be as the lineout couldn’t be taken cleanly and from the resulting scrum Bramley had the chance to kick the ball dead however, a last twist of fate saw the ball booted long down field to the waiting arms of Tart who lined up a drop goal attempt to steal the game. The agonising drift of a rugby ball shaving the outside of the post had for a moment given heart to the many supporters on the touchline, alas it was not to be. The final whistle blew with the scores tied at Bramley Phoenix 24 – Northallerton 24. A thoroughly entertaining game and a two crucial bonus points picked up away from home. Many thanks to Bramley for their generous hospitality, to the referee for officiating the match, and to
all the supporters who travelled to cheer the lads on.

The men’s second XV made the short journey over to Guisborough RUFC to play their second XV, the Monks. A number of last minute injuries and absences meant that North had to travel with a bare fifteen players. A big thank you goes out to Ed Pratt and Sam Davison who cancelled their Saturday plans at last minute to answer the call, pick up their boots and come to the aid of their teammates to make sure the game went ahead.
The first quarter of the game witnessed some entertaining play as both sides looked dangerous in attack. North had established a lead through tries from Jonny Baker and a brace from Harry Huyser. Nathan Harrop providing the conversion on two of these scores. In response, the Monks had managed to cross the line twice of their own which mean that at the half time whistle, the visitors held a slender but well deserved seven-point lead. The advantage of fresh legs in the second half meant that, whilst North were able to continue dominating the scrums, mauls and lineouts, in open play the gaps began to appear. Within a few minutes of the second half beginning, Guisborough had registered another score and from there the tries continued to flow. Whenever in possession, North looked like a dangerous team, difficult to halt going forwards, yet unable to find the last pass that would unlock a stout defence.
As the final whistle blew, North’s exhausted players had given a good accounting of themselves against a capable and competitive Guisborough side. The final score stood at Guisborough Monks 39 – Northallerton 19. A commendable and enjoyable game to watch. Many thanks to Guisborough for their generous hospitality, to the referee for officiating the match and to all the supporters who travelled to cheer the team on.

For any readers who would like to join the club, 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. For more information please contact the club on social media or come down.