Final Result Won 12 - 7

Good to get out of Soccarena and back onto grass and a welcome return to competitive action at Middlesbrough RFC.

Quick summary of all 3 games:

Some excellent rugby from both sides despite the heavy conditions. The pitch did not suit open expansive rugby so things were played fairly tight with lots of forward exchanges. Plus points for Durham were the tackling – which was exceptional from both sides in all 3 games; the scrummaging which was particularly good in the last game; the handling which was good given the wet conditions; and the general commitment and attempts to play some rugby.

As ever some areas to improve – but we will continue to work on these in training.

Some good individual performances throughout the morning – difficult to pick out specific man of the matches as each team played well. Certainly worthy of a mention were Will’s tackling and strong running, Pier’s work in the line-outs, Josh’s all round play and Dan Marsh’s tenacity and general work rate.

All in all - a good mornings rugby against a strong Middlesbrough side.

We have training next Sunday ………… then we have more tough opposition in the shape of Darlington, Tynedale & Bishop Auckland. We will need to be on our game for these fixtures so let’s continue to put the work and effort in at training and on match days.

Many thanks to Morpeth for travelling from Northumberland for this fixture and providing some stern opposition. Again the opposition kindly agreed to play 2 fixtures.

Durham started the first game very strongly and played some text book rugby, winning first phase, passing along the backs, recycling quick ball, etc….eventually scoring a well deserved try by Will Gray after going thru at least 10 phases. Another close range try by Dan Cubello soon followed after more good handling between forwards and backs. Morpeth did begin to exert some pressure but some stubborn defence and good tackling led by Dan Marsh and Will Gray forced them backwards.

This good form continued into the 2nd half with further Durham tries added by Dan Marsh and Greg Halliday. Durham continued to play some good expansive rugby when they had the ball and defended stoutly without the ball. It was especially pleasing to see the improved rucking which gave good clean ball for the backs to exploit. The other pleasing point was the good team work shown with some good passing and support play.

Individually, the forwards were led well by Matthew Howe with Matthew Conley, Piers Davison and Dan Cubello all performing well. This gave Dan Marsh time and space to operate and he showed some good decision making and support play. In the backs, Greg Halliday and Robert Mitchell were to the fore whilst the back 3 of Dan Coates, Niall O Connor each made good contributions but Man of the Match for his excellent defence and direct running in attack was Will Gray

With a new set of players Durham began the 2nd game in a similar vein to the 1st and after a period of pressure Charlie Fagg ran in a good try. Durham continued to press for the rest of the half and were unlucky not to increase their advantage. Into the 2nd half and Durham quickly scored another try – this time a long range effort from Josh O Brien. Morpeth then seized the initiative and came strongly back into the game. Durham did defend well but not enough to stop Morpeth running in 2 tries to equalize the game. Then with things finely poised Morpeths’ scrum half ran in a good blind side try to seal the victory.

Some very good play for most of the game but we need to learn to play hard, concentrate and stick together as a team until the final whistle. Nick McGoay led from the front and was ably supported by Connor, who looks like a useful new recruit. Matt Simpson battled hard at scrum half with some scrappy ball. Charlie Fagg ran and tackled well and Josh O Brien always looked dangerous with ball in hand. Man of the Match ….for his electric running from deep was full back, James Calkin.

A good morning all in all …..next up are West Hartlepool at home next Sunday

Durham City U11 Hawks - winners of County 7’s Cup
Durham City U11 Falcons - Runners’ Up in Plate Competition

A cracking morning of Rugby at the splendid new facilities at Acklam Park – many thanks for a very well hosted and organised event by Middlesbrough RFC. They even managed to arrange some very un-seasonal good weather for the occasion.

It also proved to be a successful event for the 2 Durham sides who returned home with the County 7’s Cup and were also Runners Up in the Plate Competition. The general standard of rugby was very high in what is proving to be a very keenly contested and competitive age group.

Durham Hawks led by Dan Marsh had a very tough start to the tournament facing the reigning County 7’s Champions, Bishop Auckland, in their first game. Durham ran out winners by 10-5 in a very tight game. This was followed by a 20-0 victory against Blaydon which put the Hawks top of their Group. Next up were Middlesbrough in the quarter finals and after a very even 1st half the Hawks managed to pull clear in the 2nd half and won the game 20-5.

In the semi–final Durham Hawks met Sunderland in a tense game with defences very much on top … again Durham hit some form in the 2nd half and ran in 3 tries winning the game 15-0.

Onto the final where Durham met their old rivals and current County Champions, Darlington. Again it was a very tense game but the Hawks side showed great composure and patience soaking up the Darlington pressure and running in tries as the opportunities arose. Durham ran out winners by 20-5, with tries by Josh O Brien, Will Gray & Charlie Fagg. It was a very tired but happy squad of players who were awarded the Cup after some very tough games.

All of the squad played very well with an excellent team spirit helping to carry the team through – special mentions to Matthew Howe for his forwards contribution, Dan Marsh for his harrying and darting runs from scrum half, Charlie Fagg for his versatility, James Calkin for his try scoring ability and excellent tackling, Will Gray for his consistency, direct running and defensive qualities and Greg Halliday for his elusive running ….very difficult to award but the Hawks Player of the Tournament for his all round play in both attack and defence was Josh O Brien.
Very well done to all of the Hawks!

Durham Falcons started their tournament with an even encounter against Billingham which resulted in a 10-10 draw. Their next game proved to be very tough but the Falcons battled manfully before losing 0-30, to a very good Darlington side, who made it to the Cup Final.
Next up was the Plate Semi Final v’s Middlesbrough and the Falcons played their best rugby of the morning with a cracking 20 – 0 victory to earn a well deserved place in the Plate Final.

They met Blaydon in the Final and gave away a couple of early scores which seemed to sap their confidence. At half time Blaydon appeared to be running away with the game but the Falcons came out all guns blazing in the 2nd half and even though they didn’t score they pushed Blaydon very close and conceded no further tries. Things may have been different if the Falcons hadn’t conceded the early tries but Blaydon ran out eventual winners by 15 – 0.

Again there was a great team spirit and togetherness shown by the Falcons Squad all morning which could be seen on the pitch – well done to all of the Falcons! Special mentions to Piers Davison for his sterling contribution and captaincy of the side, Robert Mitchell for his excellent hat trick v’s Middlesbrough in the Semi Final and his superb tackling throughout the tournament, Nathan Bushnell for his prompting from scrum half and Matthew Conley for his spirit and never say die attitude…again a difficult award to give but the Falcons Player of the Tournament was Dan Coates for his all round contributions to the side.

All in all a good morning with all of the Durham boys playing some good rugby – more of the same as the season progresses please!

An excellent turn out from the Durham boys meant we had enough players for 2 teams and Blaydon kindly agreed to play 2 games.

The first game was very keenly contested and Durham got off to a whirlwind start with Dan Coates scoring straight from the kick off. This rocked Blaydon into action and they replied immediately to take the lead by scoring a converted try. Each team tried to run the ball at every opportunity but in Durham’s case the ball was not the cleanest and often the backs tended to run across the field without much penetration.
The game ebbed and flowed with defences tending to be on top. Durham scored another try – this time a long range effort from James C. Again this stung Blaydon back into action and they responded with another try.
The game continued to be well contested and remained pretty even with Blaydon running out winners by 2 points.

After a swift turn round the 2nd game got underway and Durham’s forwards started to secure some good ball. This allowed the backs to run in some good scores – with some good handling and support play in evidence. Will, Dan M & Greg all running in tries. But this was only possible due to the quality of possession delivered by the forwards with Matthew C and Adi to the fore. This then allowed Dan M plenty of time to deliver good ball to the backs who had more space and time to express themselves.
Blaydon battled valiantly but most attacks they had met with stubborn Durham resistance. A much improved Durham performance in the 2nd game and a well earned victory.

Some good performances throughout the morning – Josh O’B battled hard in both games, Matt S showed some real tenacity and some excellent tackling in 1st game. Also in this game Daniel Cubello again showed his huge potential with some rumbling runs and good mauling skills.
In the 2nd game Adi continued his good form from the Westoe game and tackled manfully; Matthew C really put himself about and secured some good possession. Dan M prompted very well from scrum half and his distribution and tackling show real signs of improvement. Will ran hard at inside centre and was the driving force behind most Durham attacks but Man of the Match goes to Greg for a classy display of fly half skills.