Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club produced an inspired performance to beat 3rd place Seaham in Durham and Northumberland Division 3.  For a number of reasons, Aycliffe were only able to field the bare 15 players for a difficult away match, with Ben Stevens playing his first game of the season on the wing.
Aycliffe knew they were going to be up against it and started in ferocious style, throwing themselves into the tackles and rucks and achieving dominance in the scrum.  Seaham were left to rely on scraps of possession; soon the Aycliffe forwards set up good field position and Andy Littlefair picked up the back from a ruck to dive over for the opening try.
Aycliffe continued in the same vein and Luke Tinkler kicked two fine penalties to extend the lead to 11 – 0.  As the first half drew to a close, James Thacker created space for Adam Gascoigne on the outside; he stepped inside before scoring in the corner.  With the last play Stuart McIvor crossed the line, but the score was disallowed for a marginal forward pass.  At the break, Aycliffe led 16 – 0.
The question at the halftime was: could Aycliffe keep up the magnificent work rate they had managed in the first period?  The answer was yes, as they continued to take the game to their opponents.  Tinkler was gaining plenty of ground with his kicking, which allowed the forwards to play off the front foot. The third try came from a flowing move involving forwards and backs with Luke Crossen adding the five points.
With 20 minutes to go, Aycliffe were reduced to 14 men through injury, but they still fought like tigers, even taking a scrum against the head with only 7 forwards.  Warren Parsonage looked to have set up a bonus point try as he made a fine break down the blindside, but Littlefair was unable to hold the scoring pass.
Danny Prince completed a full 80 minutes for the first time and close to the end of the match, put in three tackles in less than 30 seconds. A yellow card meant that Aycliffe had to play the last 5 minutes with 13 men, and Seaham attacked desperately to avoid the whitewash, but superb defending held them out.  The final score was 21 – 0 to Aycliffe with loosehead prop Cymon Lee being awarded Man-of-the-Match for his display in the scrum and open play.
All involved were elated at the manner of this victory against the odds, and all 15 players put in outstanding performances. This result puts Aycliffe into 3rd place in the league with a game in hand over those on either side of them, they host the improving Richmondshire on 8th March, with the kick-off at 3.00pm. Newton Aycliffe sponsored by Boola Clothing Aycliffe and Hayward Home Appliances, trading as serviceforce. www.pitchero.com/clubs/newtonaycliffe.