It was the old cliché ‘A game of two halves’ as Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club continued their good form in Durham and Northumberland Division 3 with a 31 – 10 victory at Moore Lane over Prudhoe and Stocksfield.  Aycliffe were able to pick from strength and featured a very strong subs bench.
Prudhoe began well with their scrummage well on top and good lineout possession, but from the start it was Aycliffe’s backs that were to have the edge. The scoring began when Luke Crossen tore the defence to pieces with a mazy run before feeding the ball to Gareth Parsonage,  whose side stepping run saw him touch down under the posts. Luke Tinkler added the conversion.
Soon after, Tinkler set up Crossen for a try and added the conversion. A third try followed when Adam Gascoigne’s offload to Crossen put him into space and he headed for the line. A last ditch tackle stopped the run but Tom Hogan-Wharton starting his first game at centre, was on hand to pick up and cross the line. Tinkler again added the extra points. There then followed two tries in two minutes from Gascoigne. First a double dummy move saw him cross the line unopposed and then he ran around the defence from deep inside his own half. At the break Aycliffe led 31 – 0 with the bonus point in the bag.
Prudhoe realised that they were only going to get joy if they kept the ball with the forwards and this is what they did in the second half.  After much pressure, they finally powered over for a try to get on the scoreboard.
Aycliffe lost precision in their play and what little ball the backs got, they were unable to use to any great effect. The visitors added another try and were on the attack as the game wound up, a sharp snow squall added to Aycliffe’s discomfort, but held Prudhoe out to record a 31 – 10 win, their 8th win in the last 9 league games.
On Saturday 28th March Aycliffe travel to Richmondshire looking for revenge after losing a high scoring match earlier in the season. Aycliffe Rugby is sponsored by S Cars and Whitehouse Funeral Service