Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club finally came away with the win after a fiercely contested local derby at home to rivals Sedgefield. The game was a replay after the previous match had to be abandoned due to an injury to Sedgefield’s former Aycliffe player Andy Brennan, who was at pitchside to watch this match.
The game took on greater significance as the winners would end the day in 4th place in Durham and Northumberland Division 3. In another noteworthy event, three pairs of brothers were playing for Aycliffe with Shaun and Darryl Pettit returning to the club alongside the Parsonage and Littlefair brothers.
The game began in a fairly scruffy manner with neither side able to impose themselves on the opposition. Sedgefield took the lead early on with a try from the back of a scrum which was converted. Soon afterwards, Darryl Pettit stole the ball at the back of a Sedgefield scrum and fed Andy Littlefair who scored the try, with Luke Tinkler adding the conversion. The rest of the half was a stalemate but, just before the break, Graham Brennan scored a converted try for Sedgefield and the visitors went into the interval 14 – 7 ahead.
Early in the second half, a quickly taken tap penalty by David Judge saw him score a solo try; again Tinkler converted. A Tinkler penalty gave Aycliffe the lead for the first time in the game, but it did not last long as Sedgefield again scored a converted try to go back ahead. Another moment of magic from Judge produced another converted try in this exciting game. Sedgefield were still not to be cowed and a penalty goal saw the scores tied yet again. With 10 minutes to play, the score was 24 – 24, but finally Aycliffe began to play to their full potential as Sedgefield tired.
Another Tinkler penalty saw the lead retaken; then Judge split the defence asunder to give Craig Holmes the opportunity to score a try which gave Aycliffe the bonus point and a two-score advantage. As time ran down, and Sedgefield looked to score a try which would yield them 2 bonus points, Tinkler put in a big clearance kick; the ball bounced nicely into Chris Knight’s hands and he ran half the length of the pitch, sidestepping a defender, to score in the corner.
The final score of 37 – 24 was somewhat flattering to Aycliffe who never played close to their best and it was hard on Sedgefield after their battling performance. The match ball was sponsored by Darren Bugg and thanks are due to Walkers Butchers & Bakers for supplying pie and peas at short notice.
Aycliffe travel to third place Seaham on 1st March, with the kick-off at 3.00pm, a win will see them up to third and within touching distance of second spot. Newton Aycliffe are sponsored by Boola Clothing Aycliffe and Hayward Home Appliances, trading as Serviceforce. Visit the website at www.pitchero.com/clubs/newtonaycliffe.
