Seconds win thriller at Bullocksteads

Newcastle 41, Northumbria 24

Setting the stage for the game at Gateshead in the evening, Newcastle University's second team put on quite a show at Northumbria’s Bullocksteads sports ground Wednesday, producing a first-rate performance which included five tries from the away side. The resounding 41-24 win was definitely one of Team Newcastle’s stand-out score-lines in the day’s events, as five tries from the Royals put the icing on a great team effort that will forever be engrained in Stan Calvert history.

It wasn’t long before Newcastle etched their first points up on the scoreboard. Full-back Dan Campbell cut a great line to slice the Poly defence in two, and set the trend for the afternoon as he produced the Royal’s first try in only the second minute. Andrew Walker converted the try, in which time it seemed Northumbria were still emerging from their changing room.

Carried by the wind behind them, Newcastle had an extra spring in their step, which was quite frankly one ahead of their opposition for the most part of the game. Precision kicking from ten increased the momentum for the Royals who by now were setting up camp in the rivals twenty-two, and Deaglan Hall was again impervious to any Poly tackle as it seemed even bullets would have bounced off his unstoppable runs on the day.

Hall’s moment finally came in the twenty-seventh minute as a scrum on the Northumbria five-meter line was won against the head allowing Hall to peel off the back and power his way to another Royals score.

Only five minutes later the Royals were over the white-wash again. A turnover ball left the Northumbria defence unprepared for a break down the left, and with great vision from Walker at ten, the ball was spread back right for another Royals try giving them a 22 point lead going in at the half.

Now playing into the wind, Newcastle reverted back to a running game for the second half. The defensive line were given the work-out it lacked in the first half, and for some time remained resilient to the Poly’s attempts, repelling the Northumbrian attack on numerous occasions.

On the fifty-second minute the Royals then did what their opposition couldn’t in the first half. Under pressure, Newcastle began to redeem some territory, and with quick hands and witty side-stepping on the wing, Joe Lowe went over for the fourth try of the afternoon.

The game now out of reach of the Northumbria revival, Newcastle rung in some changes. Fresh legs from both sides upped the ante, giving the game its second wind and Northumbria the chance to do the unthinkable and come back from a 34 point deficit. Four tries in fifteen minutes saw the Poly back to within ten of the Royals, making a spectacle of a game that was seemingly over at half-time.

Not to worry however, as the final Northumbrian attack was intercepted on the twenty-two, as Andy Binner ran the length of the field to finish the game on a high. The try prompted the final whistle and the Royals secured a vital win in a nine try thriller.

Newcastle third team did not produce the same however as they were drummed 43 points to 10 – a result if kept quiet enough will hopefully not over shadow the seconds' resilient performance. The game did have its own story other than the result, as it seemed likely the match would be abandoned due an injury inflicted on the referee in the Royals' first half try. Twenty minutes later the game did resume with a replacement official, which the Royals now may regret in hind sight.