21st March 2010

Durham 0 Blaydon 38

Firstly, again we all must thank the U15's for stumping up 2 players and they were a fantastic addition to the team. Duncan who played from the off was a talent and committed addition to the team and played skilfully as the hooker. He proved to be extremely effective in line outs and it was impressive the way he enabled Hendo to secure throw ins. John who came in at the last to replace one of our injured lads made a good contribution to the game.

Durham showed how even in adversity they produce an excellent performance. Although Durham lads were out of position due to numbers this did not knock them off the game. They maintained depth, width, a sound structure and consistently played at 110%.

Throughout the first half Durham’s defence was fantastic and although Blaydon could regularly change tired legs they did not out shine our performance. Blaydon were not able to make runs and even the fast players were shut down. Every try in the first half was hard fought for by Blaydon. Durham played an excellent defending and attacking game that saw spectators holding their breath as balls we quickly taken from Blaydon and back out into Blaydon's half. Oh so close Durham were to tries on several occasions and consistently secured the scrum and took Blaydon players out prior to them moving the ball into play from the rucks and mauls.

The sun was shining and the spectator's spirits at an all time high as we moved into the second half. Although Durham were back footed in terms of point difference and the fact that most of Blaydon's team was replaced with their remaining 15 subs we maintained a structure and discipline, held the scrum despite a marked weight difference and turn balls over. Several Durham players ran virtually the length of the pitch and get taken out yards before securing the try. Sam, Matty, Michael and Mecca drove through Blaydon players trying in vain to get us a try and these attempts again were thwarted at the last breath. Throughout the Durham repeatedly tackled and stormed through Blaydon to move the ball out of danger and into play. However, Blaydon capitalized on their ability to freshen legs and familiarity in positions to secure tries. Although it wasn't a win the lads have everything to be proud of they played with commitment, hard and a sense of self confidence that we have only glimpsed before. The match was the best we have seen all season. The lads maintenance of attitude, communication and ability to develop structure we saw last week was fantastic and we all buzzed as we left at the end of the game.