Northallerton RUFC had three senior teams in action this weekend as on Saturday the men’s first XV travelled as far south as they go to Dinnington RUFC for their league match, whilst the second XV were at home against Middlesbrough third XV in their league match. The ladies’ first XV held the fort at the Lodge on Sunday in their third-round cup tie against Skipton Roses RUFC.

The ladies’ first XV welcomed Skipton Roses to the Lodge for the third round of the Papa John’s women’s Junior Cup. With Skipton sitting in second place in the league above North (NC2 North West), North knew they had a big task in front of them, but not an impossible one having previously bested two other NC2 teams earlier in the season.
The opening exchanges set the precedent for the entire game, hard carries, huge collisions and relentless effort early on from both sides showed the sort of spectacle that the spectators were in for that afternoon. Both teams were sharp at the breakdown, going for the turnover at every opportunity. Skipton had the majority of the early possession, however with North demonstrating their effective and well organised defence, they kept the visitors at bay. Both sides were jackalling competitively at the breakdown meaning that possession changed hands frequently throughout as the half went on. North finally managed to retain the ball for a good period of time and put together enough phases to create the slightest of gaps for Ali O’Brien to shoot through and open the scoring before adding the extras herself. This gave North the motivational edge they needed and once the game restarted, they set about working their way back up the pitch until, in the last play of the half, Cara Williams smashed her way over to score a second try for North. With O’Brien adding the conversion the lead stood at 14-0 going into the interval.
The second half started with North back on the attack which Skipton managed to absorb well. After dealing with the initial onslaught of this half and reclaiming possession, Skipton managed to retain the ball for long periods of play, forcing North onto a defensive footing. The visitors attacked well, testing North’s defence in every way possible but no matter what the away side tried, they were met with a brick wall of Northallerton defenders. The hosts spent the last quarter of the game defending relentlessly, turning the ball over whenever possible in their 22-metre area and kicking long to ease the pressure, if only temporarily. This cycle continued for the remainder of the game as the collisions came in as hard as in the opening minutes. Eventually, with bodies battered and energy levels depleted from the attrition of the game, Skipton managed to score their well deserved try in the last play of the game bringing an end to the match, much to the delight of the home players and fans. The final score for the game was Northallerton 14 – Skipton Roses 7. This means that North continue on in the cup competition with the next round to be played in the new year. A fantastic achievement so far for a team full of confidence. Player of the match was awarded to Ali O’Brien, forward of the match to Kate Easton and back of the match to Rachael Bailey. Many thanks to the referee for officiating the match, to Skipton and their supporters for making the long journey over and playing in such good spirits, and to all the many volunteers at the club who helped make the day happen.

The men’s second XV were at home this week, at the Lodge against Middlesbrough 3rd XV. As has often been the case this season, both of the teams for the day showed a mixture of the experience and the youth which led to an entertaining and high scoring encounter. The hosts made a rapid start, scoring two tries in the opening few minutes to take an early lead before winger Reece Brammah showed his pace down the wing beating several defenders after a loose pass on the ground had unlocked the defence. Ben Gray added the extras. This jolt seemed to spark the visitors out of their reverie and they pressed the attack, moving their way up the field with continuous phases of possession that used the full width of the field until they crossed the North try line in retaliation. This constant pace of scoring belied the often frequent set pieces of play that proved opportunities to take a breath.
North were the next to get back on the scoresheet through their other winger Luke Sutherland who ran an excellent support line to take the offload of fullback Saiyasi Nabou. Gathering a loose pass on his own try line he beats three defenders with his footwork and power to set himself free down the pitch and unselfishly passed the ball in front of the last defender to set Sutherland away. Gray again added the extras.
Having weathered a bit of a spell of Boro possession, this score began a scoring spree for North that continued for the rest of the first half. Centre Dan Luck showed his power in crashing through a couple of would-be tacklers to propel himself in to the corner and score. This was swiftly followed by a first try of the afternoon for Nabou who looked to repeat his earlier feat of gathering a loose ball on his try line and setting off down the slope towards the clubhouse. This time with no full back in sight, he cantered under the posts to make the conversion attempt easier. The conversion was knocked over. Brammah brought the half to a close by showing his lethal pace once again. The experienced Doug Mulholland took a tap penalty deep inside his own half and flung the ball out to Brammah before encouraging his younger team mate to run it in from only eighty metres out. Fortunately, Brammah was happy to oblige and collected his second score of the afternoon. The conversion again was added. This meant that at the halfway mark, North held a comfortable lead over the Boro however the interval seemed to allow the visitors to regather their breath and, rejuvenated, they took the fight back to the home side. The away side’s strategy seemed to revolve around using their size in the forwards to their advantage and by consistently recycling the ball through short carries and set piece play they made their way up to and over the North try line. The conversion was added. Another try for the visitors soon followed, this time from a turned over lineout on the halfway line that was seized upon and carried over the try line despite the best efforts of North’s defenders. This brief spell of scoring seemed to galvanise the visitors and kept the interest of the crowd who sensed the slight hint of a comeback on the cards. Trying
hard to extinguish this threat, North managed to scrap well in defence and win back the ball which gave an opportunity to their powerful centre Gaz Norton to run at arms rather than shoulders and find the gap that set him into space. Using his experience, he offloaded to the ever-present support runner Nabou to sprint away and score the try. The conversion was added. Nabou wasted no time in setting up the score that would take the game away from Boro. A wide pass over the top of the onrushing defence set him into space and once again he linked up well with Sutherland who, as every good winger should, was waiting on his shoulder to take the last pass and charge in for the score. At this point the scoreboard seemed to be insurmountable for the visitors however, to their great credit they gave no inclination of giving up the
game. Four scores in quick succession for Middlesbrough, one of which came courtesy of an inch-perfect cross field kick from Mulholland on his own try line that landed right in the arms of a grateful Boro winger, gave the spectators the feeling that this might run close to the wire. Fortunately for the home supporters, a well taken try from prop Kody Bennington who spotted no guard around the ruck, stemmed any thoughts of a late comeback. The match finished with a final score of Northallerton 60 – Middlesbrough 37. A cracking game that provided plenty of enjoyment for players and spectators alike. Many thanks to the referee for officiating the game, to Middlesbrough and their supporters for travelling in good numbers and to the many volunteers at the club who helped make the day happen.

The men’s first XV made their longest away trip to Dinnington RUFC at the southern end of Yorkshire for what they knew would be a tough ask. The home side are running near the top of the table and have put some impressive results up in recent weeks. The two side’s performances reflected their relative league positions as the hosts put together great shapes in well-coordinated attacking plays before defending with solidarity to deny North any foothold in the game. Number eight for North, Alex Hugill was able to cap off his man of the match performance with a well taken try that proved to be little more than consolation as the Dinnington routed the visitors with a final score of 95 – 7. Many thanks to Dinnington for their hospitality, to the referee for officiating the game and to the supporters of North who made the long trip to cheer on the lads.
For any readers who would like to join the club, the men train on Tuesday and Thursday 7pm, the ladies train on Wednesday 7pm and the juniors play on Sunday 10am. All ages and abilities welcome, please contact the club on social media for more information.