County Cup Quarter Final Darlington v DCRFC 7-31
24 January 2010

A crispy Sunday morning saw Durham City Under 13’s travel to Black Meadows for the quarter final tie against Darlington. The match was played on the 1st team pitch where the conditions for running rugby were perfect. Darlington kicked off and the ensuing maul saw the ball come back from Hart to Spence and good hands on from Elliott to Cooper saw Cooper score under the posts in the first minute. Darlington restarted the game and their forwards put great pressure on the City pack, however strong play by Cade, Davison and Warby saw the ball come back on the Durham City side and quick hands from the half backs got the ball to Elliott who outflanked his opposite number and scored under the posts with Warby getting the conversion. On 13 minutes Cooper put a crunching tackle in on the Darlington centre, he was able to get back to his feet quickly, picked up the ball and ran from the halfway line to score on the corner. Darlington came back from the restart very strongly and from a high tackle were awarded a penalty and a quick tap and go saw the big prop score underneath the City posts, the try was duly converted.

At the start of the second half Warby won great turnover ball and quick hands from the half backs to Elliott saw Elliot run through the defence and score under the posts. Darlington put huge pressure on the City pack in the second half but City’s defence was tireless and some great tackling by Spence, Hart and Brown ensured Darlington didn’t cross the line. With two minutes to go the Darlington scrum half, who had made a nuisance of himself all day, was tackled by Warby and Davison, Warby stayed on his feet and took the ball off the scrum half, passed to Hart who kicked the ball to the halfway line. The following line out which was caught by Duffy saw the ball move quickly to Elliott who scored under the posts and Warby converted to make it a well earned victory for Durham City.

Match Report for Sunday 22 November

Sunday 22 November saw the North Yorkshire Club Acklam visit Durham City after some serious rain through the week Sunday turned out to be good weather for playing running rugby. City got off to a slow start and Acklam’s fast fly half soon made a penetrating run into the City 22 only to be stopped short of the line by a superb tackle by Cooper. The City Forwards were having a tough time of it against Acklam however a quick turnover ball by Edes was fed from Draper to Spence to Elliott who scored underneath the sticks. From the restart some good pressure by the Acklam back row and fly half who were constantly making a nuisance of themselves saw Acklam put great pressure on the City defence which held out very well. Cooper made a break from the 10 yard line to score underneath the posts - much against the run of play. The city forwards started to get on top of the opposition and tries quickly followed from Elliott, Cooper, Hart and Edes and City went in at half time 36 – 0. As the second half got underway further tries followed by Elliott, Edes, Cooper and Davison with a fulltime score of 67 – 0.

Great running today from both centres, Cooper and Elliott there was great support played from the back row in Brown, Davison and Hart, our front five of Cade, Edie, Morgan/Blakelock, Renwick and Edes were solid in the scrum and made some great supporting runs during the game. Our half backs of Draper and Spence continue to improve game by game and the ball is moving much quicker along the back line. Our back three of Palister, MacEneenie and Monkman played very well and showed some strong running with ball in hand.

Durham v West Hartlepool – Sunday 8 November 2009

This Sunday City Under 13’s entertained our old rivals West Hartlepool. The game was played on the open playing field of the University Race Course Pitch and after both teams, parents and supporters respected a two minute silence West Hartlepool got the match underway. The kick went straight to Brown who charged forward and made good yards with the City forwards rucking close behind him, we got quick ball to the backs and Elliott ran through the West Hartlepool centres and scored after two minutes. From the restart the West Hartlepool forwards consistently made a nuisance of themselves and the City forwards found it hard to win good clean ball. However, Hart at No. 8, who was having a storming game, along with Brown and Davison were winning ruck and maul ball and a good scrummage by the City forwards enabled Hart to pick up from No. 8 and score in the corner. From the restart the City forwards put the West defence under great pressure and some quick ball saw Cooper score a scintillating ball in the corner. From the restart Brown collected the ball and drove at the West Hartlepool forwards however West turned the ball over and were immediately on the offensive. Some great tackling by the City backs in Fulton, Pallister and Cooper kept the West Hartlepool backs at bay. An ensuing scrummage saw the City front row win a ball against the head and quick hands from Draper to Spence saw Cooper score underneath the posts and Draper got the conversion. From the restart persistent pressure by West saw their forwards win good ball and they scored a good try at the end of the first half. The half time score was 22 – 5.

The second half the City forwards really came alive and great driving runs by Hart and in particular Edes (who must have been asleep the first half) saw the City forwards really dominate the game which enabled three tries by Elliott in the second half and further tries by Hart and Edes for City to turn round and win 53 -5. A great game played today however big improvements still need to be made in our rucking and mauling.

Consett Home - 1 November 2009

It was as well to say it was the 1st November and we had moved into winter time. The heavens opened at about midnight on Saturday night and continued to do so through the course of Sunday morning where we entertained Consett at home. It is as well we were at home as it would have been a lot worse up in the hills at Consett. A hard fought game, played in terrible conditions, was won by a City team full of determination. The Consett forwards tried their hardest to prevent quick ball to the City backs, but when it did come three tries in the first half, two by Cooper and one by Elliott and a conversion by Draper, meant City were able to turn round at half time 17-0 up. In the second half the rain was relentless and two further tries by Cooper and Elliott meant a comfortable victory of 27-0 to Durham City.


Darlington Away – 11 October 2009

On the back of three victories the Under 13’s travelled to arguably their toughest game of the season against Darlington where the conditions were dry with a strong wind blowing across the pitch. Durham won the toss and kicked off towards the clubhouse. After some early exchanges between the Forwards the City pack turned over some rock ball on their own 22 and quick hands by Draper, Spence saw Elliot run three-quarters of the pitch and scored under the posts with Warby missing the conversion. From the restart the Durham Forwards were under pressure with some great defensive work by Hart, Davison and Warby saw the ball get turned over and the Backs move some quick ball along the line saw Cooper score after 12 minutes. Warby missed the conversion. From the restart Darlington kicked the ball straight to Edes who caught it between the 22 and 10 yard line and Edes ran the length of the pitch and scored underneath the sticks and Draper converted. Whilst the conversion was being taken some encouraging words were spoken by the Darlington coach to his team and from the restart Darlington were much more aggressive and penalties given away by City for diving over the ball saw a pick and go by their back row player to score. From the kick off Durham forwards were strong with Cade, Morgan and Eddie harassing the Darlington front row in the scrums and in the lose play Edes and Renwick were constantly making a nuisance of themselves. Eventually the forwards won some quick ball for Elliott who scored in the corner and Draper missed the conversion. Half time City were winning 22 points to 5. At the second half kick off Darlington kicked the ball straight to Edes who ran the length of the pitch and scored underneath the posts. Draper missed the conversion. From the restart the Darlington forwards applied great pressure on City forwards and a Darlington score was inevitable and the conversion missed. On 39 minutes City forwards were having a hard time of it and Davison won turnover ball on his own line and Cooper got the ball and ran from underneath his own sticks up the tram lines and scored underneath the posts for Warby to have the conversion. The last move of the game came from a scrumage won by the Durham forwards, quick hands from the backs saw Cooper score underneath the posts for Warby to convert. Result 41 10 win.
NB – Coaches note a great win by the City team on a day when the forwards did not dominate the opposition.

Sunday 13 September vs Sunderland (h) 75-6 (w)

Our first home game of the season saw us entertaining Sunderland and quite a large crowd of supporters turned out to watch the game which was played again in warm, dry, sunny conditions. Davison lost the toss for City and Sunderland got the game underway and a few exchanges between the forwards saw the ball come out along the back line to Cooper who ran through the gap in the centres and scored under the posts. From the re-start Elliott scored 2 tries in quick succession with City looking like they were going to score on every attack. Further tries came from Hart, Spence and two from Edes with Warby converting 3 and Draper converting 2. City went in at half time 45-0.

In the second half Sunderland showed great spirit and scored a try in the bottom corner which was not converted. Quickly after the re-start a try by Edes, quickly followed by Cooper twice and Elliott twice and conversions by Warby and Draper saw City win by 76-5.

I would like to thank Sunderland for their unyielding effort and the City U13 team for playing some very strong and fast aggressive running rugby.

Sunday 7 September vs Darlington Mowden Park (a) 7 - 60 (w)

The opening game of the season City U13’s travelled to the luxurious setting of Darlington Mowden Park. It was a warm, dry sunny day and ideal conditions for running rugby. Captain Davison won the toss and Durham quickly went into the lead with a try by Edes which was duly converted by Draper. From the re-start the forwards secured the ball and some quick hands from Draper to Spence saw Elliott score under the posts then Draper scored the conversion. On 11 minutes some aggressive work by the forwards saw Warby break through and score in the corner and Draper missed the conversion. From the re-start the Mowden attack put the City defence to test and some ferocious tackling from the back line ensured that Mowden did not score. A knock on by one of the Mowden players forced a scrum on the 10 yard line and a pick and go by City’s Hart saw a try scored under the posts and this was converted by Draper. On 18 minutes another try by Hart saw City go in at half time 31-0.

Straight after the break the forwards received the ball and a lovely break by Draper saw the ball pass to Elliott, through to Cooper who sprinted through the gap and scored in the corner. On 29 minutes another break from the back of the scrum by Hart saw City score again in the corner. An injury to Elliott in the centre saw a change in personnel with McEneeney coming on the pitch Mowden took advantage of the reorganisation and scored under the posts. City quickly took hold of the situation and tries by Hart, Cooper and Edes and conversions by Warby and Draper saw City win comfortably 60-7. Tom Elliott was voted man of the match by the Mowden coaches.

I would like to thank Mowden for their hospitality and the team for playing well today.