On a crisp and sunny afternoon at Alnwick rugby club, all teams observed a minutes silence ahead of Remembrance Sunday. Perfectly observed it was fitting tribute to those who gave their lives in service.
The silence over and rugby heads on the game commenced with a big hit in the midfield from Henry Nyinguro which loosened the ball in Middlesbrough‘s favour. Unfortunately, a loose pass out to the wing stopped the forward momentum.
It was a tense start with a couple of knocks from both sides. Great defensive play from Middlesbrough ultimately produced a penalty turnover as Ollie Hodgson forced the Annick wing to hold on on the floor. Another brilliant hit by Henry on the 22 metre mark once again forced a fumble. The ball was spun to Ollie who burst through a gap and slipped a tremendous offload to Jack Cook on his shoulder. Cook had an easy run in under the posts. The score converted by Aedan Maloney. The intensity continued, especially in the front row, which led to a long lull in play as the referee lectured both front rows on the art of the scrummage. This ultimately resulted in a penalty for the Boro.
Alnwick soon started to play some rugby of their own and some great cover defence from Middlesbrough kept them from scoring. the intensity in defence forcing mistakes from Alnwick. Desperate to break the Boro defensive wall Alnwick ran multiple line but ultimately got in each other way, resulting in another penalty to the Boro for crossing. An injury to try scorer Jack Cook offered another chance for young Patrick McCardle to try and influence the game. Great battering in the midfield by Middlesbrough was met by a forceful defence from Alnwick. The home side penalised for lying over the top and Aedan was quick to point at the posts from 25 yards out, dead centre. He is successful and Boro led 0–10.
Alnwick clearly heard the wake up call and they stepped up their game significantly. A series of impressive attacks and ran phase after phase. Throwing the ball wide in an attempt to get it to their winger, but Pete Homan stopped the attack with a deliberate knock on. Pete sent to the bin for 10 minutes offered Alnwick the chance to get back in the game. However, the Boro got a lucky break. Alnwick thinking they had scored in the corner, which indeed they did, but unfortunately for them there was another ball on the pitch, kicked from the second team game pitch. The referee chalked off the score and makes the teams replay the initial scrum. Despite a persistent battering, Middlesbrough held their line, leading to a Shay Barritt clearance to just outside the 22. Middlesbrough were holding on for dear life and the good period for Alnwick eventually led to their just reward. The pressure was bound to pay off and they eventually crossed for a deserved try. Converted, the score was 7-10.
Middlesbrough continued to push forward and soon forced another penalty. The big Alnwick second row came in from the wrong side and once again, Aedan pointed for the posts. From about 28 yards out and again dead Centre, a huge big pressure kick puts Boro 7-13 ahead.
Alnwick began to really press their man advantage and forced a couple of penalties. They soon capitalised and scored another near the posts. Converted that put Alnwick 14-13 ahead. a crucial blow to Boro just before half time.
Alnwick pressure led to a knock on but Boro hang in without conceding more before the break. Middlesbrough, competed really well, but the man advantage was very challenging and in the end, a half of two half’s. Middlesbrough were very good value for their initial lead in the first 20 minutes. But losing Jack Cook and then Pete Homan to the bin for 10 minutes took its toll. Alnwick stepped up the pressure for the final 20 and ground out their one point lead.
HT 14-13
The second half started with a series of penalties against Middlesbrough. The penalty gifts resulted in a pushover try for Alnwick and the Alnwick fly half landed an impressive conversion from near the touch to push the score to 21-13. An impressive series of passes from Alnwick was ultimately scuppered, followed by a beautiful clearance kick by Rob Carney. Good pressure in midfield forced a penalty for Middlesbrough. About 23 yards out in front of the post, Aedan had a lot of pressure to make it count, and with a lot of headwind in his face, Aedan tried to give it a a bit too much and dragged it to the left of the posts. Again, it was pretty tense out in the field, and some of the away supporters were feeling it too. Middlesbrough were probing and pressing for an opening. Big Aedan got through a gap but the ref awarded a penalty for a high tackle to stifle the charge. A quick tap from Jeffers to restart the move and Boro were off again. All that pressure however was eventually thwarted by a knock on. Fairplay to the Super Maroons, they put in one hell of a shift. For any of us who were unfortunate enough to witness the debacle at sandal. This is a very different performance.
In an attempt to find the breakthrough, Shay Barritt was replaced by Sean Maloney. Jack McPhillips moved in to fly half, Pete to inside and Sean to the wing. Going into the final 20 minutes Aedan Maloney sensed a loose pass in midfield and swooped in with the interception. He ran a good 65 yards down the park, outpacing everyone to dive under the posts. After taking a moment or 2 to collect himself, he calmly landed the conversion. Boro were in striking distance. 21-20.
The ref awarded another series of penalties to Alnwick and they moved in to camp on the Boro line. After a series of tight crash ball, Alnwick score a converted try under the posts. 28-20. Boro rallied fantastically and a series of interplay and marvellous gain line crashes had Alnwick flustered. The clock was not the friend Boro and a little bit of gamesmanship from Alnwick wasted vital seconds. However, Boro maintained the ascendancy and a very nice passage of play resulted in a penalty for Boro because the Alnwick second row was lying all over the ball. Aidan Maloney landed his toughest kick of the day from about 35 yards to put Boro back in the running 28-23. However, right at the death, the referee awarded yet another penalty to Alnwick. The scrum-half landed the penalty from about 35 yards and that score took away Boro’s losing bonus point. Alnwick take the win and their four try bonus.
Bitterly unlucky for Middlesbrough. They played well. Fought very hard. They were on the end of some unfortunate decisions and deserved much more from this game.
Final 31-23
