Novos 43, Horden 35 - Against The Odds Win

Squad arrived as selected with two good training sessions under their belt - thanks go to ex North Shields coach Keith Christie who helped us out on Thursday. We hope he enjoyed it enough to come back next week.

We spoke during the week about starting well and sustaining effort levels throughout the 80 mins. Our line speed was fantastic early doors, jumping off the line and making chop tackles. With 5 mins on the clock Jonny Winterhalder (on debut) got in a passing lane and intercepted the ball. He cantered in from 80 metres and Shaun Stewart kicked an easy conversion to make it 7-0.

With the wind behind us we kicked down field via the boot of Winterhalder which was knocked on by Horden. As they all stopped playing Ben Kelly picked up the ball and was off to the races. He was hauled down inside the Horden 22 but we recycled the ball quickly with Horden giving a way a cynical offside that went unpunished further. We quickly took the penalty and hammered away at the Horden line as Daniel Shuttleworth stepped a defender and stretched out to put the ball on the line. Conversion again added by Stewart. 14-0 to Novos.

For whatever reason the game then changed as the tempo stopped - Connor Taylor was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on. We allowed Horden to get rolling as they dominated the scrum and the whistle count went through the roof. Down to 14 men we conceded two tries as we did not make Horden go to Plan B. They were allowed to get over the gain line too easily and earned metres through the whistle. Score 14 all heading in to the last five mins of the half.

We finished the half on top after a dominate line out display, once again led by Darren Kelly. Inside Horden's 22 we carried 3-4 times the game direction before Lewis Chater picked off a very tired defender at the edge of a ruck. Conversion added by Stewart to make it 21-14 but we were about to turn into the wind.

Half time was about making them earn their restarts rather than via the whistle - 10/1 penalty count was harsh as we seemed to be penalised heavy for showing a desire to get off our line as well as there was no real contest of possession at the breakdown. On came Louis Matthews and Adam MacDonald.

We started the second half well - as we tinkered with our back line when we were in possession and out of possession. A decent counter attack from a wayward Horden kick allowed us to apply pressure early doors. Horden were given a yellow card for that individuals second high tackle. We made the most of it as we kicked to the corner - Daniel Shuttleworth hit Darren Kelly beautifully despite the near gale force wind. We drove our much heavier opponents pack over the line and Shuttleworth was credited with the try. Novos 26, Horden 14.

Despite the penalty count continuing to rise we were playing pretty well with the scarce amount of possession we had. Jamie Ogilvie on for his debut - at 9. He fed Jonny Winterhalder who probed the Horden defensive line before off loading to Jack Hearn. A desperate tackle halted our attack but the ball was quickly recycled and Darren Kelly moved the ball wide to top try scorer Shaun Stewart who jogged across the line.

The score line was 31-14 and we looked in control of the match - apart from the scrums where Horden were clear winners. However, we were again heavily penalised. Horden took a quick tap but we stopped them in their tracks only for Jamie Ogilvie to be yellow carded for not being back ten. Harsh but technically correct as he was about 15 metres back ! Down to 14 once again and Horden quickly made use of the advantage scoring with the next passage of play. Novos 31, Horden 21.

The penalty count went in the 20's as Horden machine kept rolling. They scored a good try as their 8 and 13 striating to cause us a lot of problems.

Game on 31-28 with ten mins to play - in this small amount of time Sam Busby scored a try after a great break by Pete Twentyman. Then Luke Menzfeld was correctly given our third yellow card of the day for a no arm tackle - taking the penalty count to 23-4 in Horden's favour. Some how we were still playing after 47 mins in the second half as Horden scored to make it 38-35. However, victory was assured as Jack Hearn finished off a Lewis Chater break - Hearn rounding the last defender with an outrageous side step causing his opponent to fall to the floor. 43-35 and somehow there was still time to kick off. Horden won a penalty to give them an attempt at closing to a losing bonus point but the kick sailed to the right.

Despite a rare away win at Horden the group were quite flat at the final whistle as they were aware that we did not adapt well during the game. Thanks to Tony for taking charge of the game - apologies for the penalty count. The boys were pretty frustrated with how the game went as Horden are so much heavier than us we had worked on line speed and competing at the breakdown. Unfortunately, there was almost no contest of possession post tackle and you felt we had jumped the gun on several occasions - rendering both my sessions pointless ! Sorry lads - my bad.

Horden - thank you for the game. I'd love to know the weight of your pack - at a guess I'd say 900-915 kgs. You smashed our scrum and perhaps didn't get the benefit for it over the 90 mins. I thought your 8 and 13 were outstanding and it was great to see Adam Houston playing for you after being released by his previous club. All the best for the rest of the season.

Novos - huge game next week against Medicals for many different reasons. Can't wait.

Man of the Match - Daniel Shuttleworth - great accuracy at the line out despite the win and two tries
Richard of the Day - Jonny Winterhalder - late onto the pitch

Up the Vos !