Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club’s Durham and Northumberland Division 3 campaign took an upturn with a fine home victory over Jarrovians.  Again, a number of key backs were missing, but Aycliffe’s rearranged backline still packed a punch.
Aycliffe began strongly, maintaining possession and almost scoring through winger Mikey Dunn.  The first points weren’t long coming though as Richie Littlefair powered over from short range and David Gibson landed a conversion from near the touchline.  Jarrovians fought back and reduced the deficit with a penalty goal.
Aycliffe attacked again and Dunn was able to finish this time, just scraping over in the corner. Jarrovians now collected a red card which reduced the power of their scrum, which had looked potent early on. Captain Warren Parsonage was next on the scoresheet and, before long the bonus point was secured when Craig Holmes went over from a 5-metre scrum.  The last score of the half came from replacement Dan Montgomery on his debut.  At the break the score was 31 – 3 to Aycliffe.
The first score in the second half came when Darryl Pettit belied his years to make a mazy run through the defence for a fine try.  Dunn and Montgomery both added their second tries and Chris Richards split the defence apart for a score of his own.  With the game won, Aycliffe were able to put on their replacements and Cymon Lee, Chris Carlon and Darrell McLaren all scored after coming on.
The final try came from some excellent handling by the backs and a sublime draw and pass from Montgomery released Ben Stevens to score the first try of his career.  Jarrovians battled hard but the combination of being a man down and the good form shown by Aycliffe proved too much for them.
The game finished 71 – 3 to Aycliffe and it was notable that the 13 tries were shared between 11 players with Gibson’s three conversions making him the twelfth name on the scoresheet.
Aycliffe’s next game is a local derby match away to Sedgefield on 15th Nov. Kick off time 2:15pm  Aycliffe Rugby are sponsored by Whitehouse Funeral Service and S Cars.