Saturday, October 10, 2026+. 3pm at Acklam park.
Middlesbrough suffered a home defeat at the hands of Regional 1 North East league leaders, Northern, on Saturday, despite a valiant second-half fight-back and a hattrick of tries from Boro’s Man of the Match, Brendan Hil
Newly promoted Northern arrived at Acklam Park aiming to maintain their perfect record, in a game which saw the teams meet each other for the first time since Boro edged them to win promotion two seasons ago.
The visitors dominated the first 20 minutes, looking assured in attack. Boro, playing with debutants, Luke Roche and Dan Kidd, put in some gutsy tackling, however, Northern broke through with converted tries from Harvey Guthrie, Kyle Blackmore and Tom Chandler (0-21).
Boro finally ground out some yards, recycling the ball through phases, but the home team repeatedly thwarted themselves with kicking and handling errors. Eventually, a fantastic catch in the air by Hill started a successful counter attack. The winger broke two tackles and fed the ball to lock, Ali Lang, who powered through the defence, and popped the ball to Aedan Moloney for a try. Hill’s conversion hit the post for a half time score of 5-21.
Boro looked on course for an incredible comeback in the second half. Elliot Ward, Lang, Myles Colvin and Moloney continued to test the defensive line, and Northern were warned by the referee for repeated infringements as they tried to cope with the onslaught. Captain, Jack McPhillips eventually surged through a gap, and the ball was spun out to Hill, who scored a converted try in the corner. Moments later, Ward again bounced off a few Northern defenders, and Hill crossed the line in the corner (17-21).
But the comeback was not to be, as Northern drove over for a try from a lineout. The game drifted away from Boro and Northern’s Chandler broke through again to race around for another try under the posts (17-38).
Boro did not give in, chasing their bonus point. Scrum half, Sam Gaudie saw a gap, drawing several men, passed to Hill, who crossed the line for his hattrick. Hill’s successful conversion was the last moment of the ga
me, which ended 24-38.
Boro Captain, Jack McPhillips was proud of the team’s resilience, ‘Going 21-0 down after 20 minutes was really disappointing and we were always chasing the game from there. When you get beat in this league it’s important you still pick up points, so it was pleasing we got the fourth try. A big week of training next week will put us back on track.’
Middlesbrough are currently eighth in the League, and take on Scunthorpe away on Saturday 17th October at 3pm.
