Newton Aycliffe 54 – Washington 17
Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club finished their season with a fine win in the Durham County Challenge Plate final played under lights at Durham City. With a squad of 22 able to be used in the game, Aycliffe were in the position of having 25 players available.
Aycliffe aimed to play the game the way they had finished the league season and took the lead with a team try, the ball passing through forwards and backs before Adam Gascoigne’s pace finished off the move. Luke Tinkler added the conversion. Aycliffe now seemed to let the occasion get on top of them and they lost their shape in the face of some spirited play by Washington, belying their lowly league position. Washington brought the score within two points with a try and continued to play well for most of the half. With less than 10 minutes of the first half remaining, Aycliffe used their pace to take command of the game with three tries in quick succession. First a move by Luke Crossen and Tinkler made the space for Craig Holmes to cross the whitewash. Holmes then turned provider for Gascoigne to score his second and Darrell McLaren provided an assist for David Judge’s score. A full house of kicks by Tinkler saw the teams turn round with Aycliffe 28 – 5 ahead.
Early in the second half a chip by Tinkler led to another Judge try. Washington again showed their spirit and another period of pressure was rewarded with a second try. Drew Gibson came on as a replacement and was soon on the scoreboard with a darting run. Another Washington try showed that they were still a factor in the game. Aycliffe put on their remaining replacements, but their attacking edge was not blunted. A series of attacking rucks put Aycliffe in a strong position and scrum-half, Chris Richards, saw a gap to dart through for another try. To finish off the scoring in a fitting manner, captain Warren Parsonage showed a burst of speed to power through the defence. Tinkler’s conversion was his 7th out of 8 to leave the score 54 – 17 to Aycliffe as they lifted the trophy for the second time.
This was a satisfactory end to a good season for Aycliffe under the new regime of coach Peter Ryans and his assistants, with a 3rd place finish in the league. The following day, representatives from the club met World Cup winning legend Phil Vickery and were photographed with him and the trophy. Newton Aycliffe are sponsored by Boola Clothing and Haywoods Home Appliances.
Visit the website at www.pitchero.com/clubs/newtonaycliffe
