Novos 24, Acklam 14 - Game Of Two Halves

Novocastrians went into this game after a Saturday off as well as no training on Tuesday due to the clubs fireworks display. The rust was clearly evident in the matches first exchanges. Early handling errors and lack of support at times cost us as Acklam got hold of the game. Their first try came off us playing under pressure due to an advantage call - a poor pass in midfield and we were under the cosh. Eventually, Acklam's left winger went over with the try converted from the sideline. Not too sure we gained any advantage from Acklam's knock on but we had plenty of opportunity to prevent them from scoring.

Unsure why but we were very flat and Acklam sensed this and got on top with their experienced fly half finding space with kicks and they made some line breaks but were scrambled well. Our opponents scored again as a kick down the middle was ran back but we were isolated at the break down and Acklam gained a penalty in our half. They went to the corner and won the line out building phases in our 22. A kick behind our defensive line was regathered by Acclaims wing with a great piece of skill and dive over the line. Conversion again added from wide out to push Acklam into a 14-0 lead.

They boys eventually settled down and got on the front foot as our set piece started dominate the game. Tom Cox, Darren Kelly and Alex Littlefair were excellent in the line out as we secured our ball and stole Acklam's ball at will. A quick tap from our 22 caught Acklam by surprise as Jez Nash and Sam Bird broke up the left wing. This led to a spell of pressure in Acklam's 22 with a number of penalties. After some hammering away at the line Josh Stacey celebrated is 100th game with a meat pie from close range. Shaun Stewart added the extra's from the sideline to make it 14-7 at half time.

Bit of a chat about how the first half wasn't very entertaining to watch and we should look to get over the gain line, support the ball better and just get some excitement into our play. On came Luke Menzfeld and Craig Eales to get us going forward.

The boys dominated the second half with much improved defence led by Andy Hall and George Bambrick who chopped down Acklam's ball carriers all day. In addition, we were now in complete control of the gain line battle as Craig Eales smashed through with several strong carries. This front foot ball allowed Paddy Sowter and stand in fly half Jack Hearn more time to make better decisions. We went into our opponents 22 after a great cross kick from Hearn, picked up by Shaun Stewart. After several phases the ball was rewound to Darren Kelly who crashed through a couple of would be tacklers to make it 12-14. Novos with all the momentum now.

Acklam were unable to get any momentum in the second half as their scrum was going backwards and the boys put huge pressure on their line out. We broke out of our 22m from one of their line outs as Daniel Shuttleworth made a half break supported by James Bass and Sam Bird. A piece of luck as Bird appeared to take out an Acklam player without the ball for James Bass to toe it ahead and win the race to the ball for a try. Novocastrians now ahead 17-14 with 20 mins to play.

We finished the half in our opponents 22m as they had to chase the game, unable to rely on set piece ball as Josh Stacey came back on and he and Luke Menzfeld caused havoc up front. Under pressure, going backwards Jez Nash managed to grab an intercept and race in for the bonus point try and deny Acklam a losing bonus point. Conversion added by Shaun Stewart to make the final score 24-14.

Many thanks to Acklam, your hospitality was excellent and I was very impressed by the developments at your club. Great to be met outside by a club official, clean and warm changing rooms, space for our physio and lots of other little things that we could learn from as a club. Very impressed by your two wingers that caused us trouble last season - strong willing runners and your ten controlled the game very well when you were dominating possession early on.

Thank you to the Yorkshire Society ref - was great to see you talking with some of our players after the game. Apologies for one rant after which I sent myself to the sin bin area to calm down - 4 lads offside by 5 metres can do that to a coach, sorry. Thought that your understanding of the laws when Acklam tried to counter our maul was outstanding as well as the explanation to our opponents about how you saw it.

Novos - great comeback as a group with some great individual performances up front from Andy Hall, Tom Cox, Alex Littlefair and Darren Kelly. In addition, Craig Eales was huge in the second half getting over the gain line with every carry. I thought Jack Hearn did really well once we were on the front foot making some great decisions in an unfamiliar role. Outside him Jez Nash looked his old self with a few line breaks and marshalled our young backs well.

Man of the Match was Andy Hall who dominated his man at scrum time and didn't miss a tackle all day. Mentioned in dispatches was Darren Kelly who is playing very well in his first season at Novos having joined us from Gosforth.

Next week we have Gateshead at home - our opponents had an excellent result yesterday against Northern earning a bonus point with a 32-26 defeat. We are excited that we may see the return of Sean Ramsay and Pete Twentyman to the group next week as well as a few backs should be available to ensure selection will be difficult this week.

Finally, huge congrats to Josh Stacey who played his 100th game. A massive achievement from a likeable lad who joined us whilst at uni - one of our Scarbardos contingent. Incredible, that the 24 year old has already gained 100 caps in the front row at such an early age - especially given that he missed an entire season with a snapped achilles. Huge things are expected from this poor as he goes searching for Ben Merrett's club record as well as developing his quest for more county caps.

See you all on Tuesday - up the Vos !!