Middlesbrough 27 v Alnwick 35
Saturday, October 24, 2026. 3pm at Acklam Park.
Middlesbrough were beaten by Alnwick in a closely fought battle in wet and windy conditions at Acklam Park on Saturday. The victory sent Alnwick to the top of the League. Boro put up a valiant fight against a team aiming for automatic promotion, despite still missing some key players, such as Ollie Hodgson, Sam Gaudie and Harley Wright.
Boro drew first blood, with winger, Brendan Hill deftly collecting a beautiful cross field kick from Rob Carney, shaking off an attempted tackle to score at pace. He then landed the tricky conversion, despite the swirling wind (7-0).
Alnwick pushed back, keeping the ball in hand phase after phase, eventually wriggling over the line for a converted try to tie the score. After a period of back-and-forth possession, featuring solid defensive tackling on both sides, and high floating kicks forced back by the wind, the visitors’ forward pack drove over for another try (7-14).
Hill added to his tally after Alnwick were penalised for offside, defying the gusts with a superb penalty kick (10-14).
Showing dominance in the scrum, Alnwick pushed forward again. With tight handling they secured another converted try, but Boro narrowed the lead, when the visitors were penalised for not releasing. Hill landed another beauty, bringing the half time score to 13-21.
Middlesbrough were able to cut the lead to one point at the start of the second half (20-21), with Carney sending an intelligently placed chip through the gap. Captain, Jack McPhillips nipped through to collect it, feeding the ball to Hill, who raced in for a glorious try.
The incessant conditions were taking their toll, with lineouts, kicking and ball-handling proving difficult and resulting in some scrappy play. Alnwick turned the screw, scoring two converted tries, extending their lead to 20-35. In typical Boro fashion, the home team never surrendered, battling to the end. From a scrum on their own five-yard line, Hill raced up the pitch, gaining valuable territory, pushing play into the Alnwick half. Jack Jeffers cut through a gap and Middlesbrough recycled through phases, with Rohan Brown going over to secure a third try for Boro. The referee blew the final whistle after Hill converted, taking his personal tally for the game to 22, and the final score to 27-35.
Boro just missed out on a losing bonus point, but McPhillips was proud of his team’s performance against strong opposition in challenging conditions, ‘It has been a tough few weeks results-wise, but we can go into Blaydon next week with confidence after the performance today. It was also great to see Jack Cook get his first team tie.’
