Aycliffe Rugby Club played their best rugby of the season to beat neighbours Sedgefield in Durham and Northumberland Division 3. The first warm day of the year saw a strong squad turn up willing and able to face their rivals.
Sedgefield, fielding a number of old Aycliffe faces, began well with the forwards keeping possession and they took the lead with a try. Aycliffe replied when James Thacker scored a solo try. Sedgefield regained the lead with a penalty goal, but straight from the kick off a Sedgefield mistake saw Thacker collect a loose ball and score the try which Luke Tinkler converted.
Aycliffe increased their lead when Thacker completed his hat-trick, despite hitting his head on the post in the process. A second Sedgefield penalty reduced the lead somewhat but Aycliffe re-asserted their dominance when Luke Crossen picked up another loose ball to score in the corner. A long lineout was thrown to Craig Holmes who powered through the defence to score. Quick handling saw Chris Wilson score his first try of the season when he was able to burst down the wing. At half time, the score was 36 – 11 to Aycliffe.
Sedgefield were not going to take things lying down and, at the outset of the second half, they again used their forwards to good effect and soon had scored two converted tries to reduce the lead to 11 points. After a good talking too, Aycliffe shook off their lethargy to regain their dominance. Holmes picked up the ball from an attacking scrum and scored his second try before the backs began to run riot. Thacker added his fourth and fifth tries before turning creator for Crossen.
The scoring was completed when the ball was quickly fed out to the wing where Michael Dunn was able to add another score, running the ball behind the posts to make the kick easier. Aycliffe could have added further scores but wasted a number of opportunities. Tinkler finished with 7 conversions from 11 to give a final score of 69 – 25 to Aycliffe.
Everything was in Aycliffe’s favour, with the weather suiting their expansive game and Sedgefield missing some key players, but on this form they could have beaten anybody in the league. On 13th April, Aycliffe continue their league programme at home to Seghill, kickoff 3pm. Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club is sponsored by Workshop Supplies and Lift Right Forklift Training. Visit the website at www.pitchero.com/clubs/newtonaycliffe.
