Novos 64, Gateshead 10 - Twentyman's Men In Ten Try Rout

A win or be relegated day for Gateshead - they started off with a bang as we kicked off with the wind at our backs on a heavy pitch. Gateshead showed intent and desire to go up the field and score off the back of 17-18 phases. Amazing score which shocked us a little. Before we could recover they were in again with another good score. 10-0 to Gateshead after about 8 mins.

The boys got a bit of a serving from captain Pete Twentyman under the posts and with a dropped ball from the kick off Novos gained possession and finally settled into the game. During the week we decided to put our heaviest pack out and try dominate the scrum battle in order to deny Gateshead's young backs front foot ball. Josh Stacey, Luke Menzfeld and Daniel Shuttleworth with support in the engine room from Pete Twentyman and Adam MacDoanld were pushing Gateshead back on every occasion.

We had finally settled into the game and were now dominating possession and field position. We closed the gap as Sean Ramsay crashed over whilst carrying a couple of defenders. Conversion added by Jonny Winterhalder to make it 7-10.

The boys up front were justifying our selection policy as we scored our first pushover try as Sean Ramsay scored his second and gave us the lead. It was not long before Ramsay secured a first half hat trick as the pack once again drove Gateshead back at scrum time. Conversion added by Winterhalder to stretch our lead out to 19-10.

The game was still competitive with a very young Gateshead side showing they would not be relegated without a fight. However, a crushing blow was dealt just before half time as their loosehead was sent off. From a 5m scrum the 1 went down on a knee but quickly stood back up and tried to continue to scrummage. The refs whistle sounded and a yellow card was issued after we had dominated Gateshead's scrum for the majority of the first half. As he was walking off he swore about the decision and was called back to be sent off for dissent.

We immediately scored through Ben Kelly and the conversion was added to make the score 26-10.

All the subs on at half time as we handed debuts to one of our colts Oli Taylor and Elliot Smith went on the wing. Ross Radford entered the fray to play against his old club. We were again winning the field position as Jack Hearn and Paddy Sowter put in some telling kicks. We hammered away at Gateshead's line and Oli Taylor scored with his first touch in senior rugby ! Sideline conversion added by Winterhalder as we moved out to 33-10.

It was all one way traffic in the second half as Jack Hearn made a break with off loads from Sam Busby and colt Brandon Gilbert allowing Darren Kelly to score after he tracked play superbly. Conversion added again as we stretched out to a 40-10 lead.

Gateshead were saying the right things behind the posts but were unable to keep us out for long with only 14 men. We scored some great tries with tremendous support play, accurate handling and a desire to be ruthless. Pete Twentyman bagged a try, young Brandon Gilbert scored his first try for the first team and Darren Kelly bag his second.

The final try was very popular as Elliot Smith (who had started the morning on the bench for the 2's) ran down the wing and took his try well. Wrapping up a great 40 min cameo on the left wing whereby he carried hard and took care of the ball at every opportunity. A recent convert from rugby league - he showed that there is potential for him to develop further.

Final score 64-10.

Cheers to the ref who had a decent game and correctly dealt with the dissent. I thought the initial yellow was harsh but the ref had no alternative but to send the player from the field once he had reacted how he did.

Gateshead lads - a making of a good side there with some talented youngsters who need time to grow. A season in DN2 may give them the opportunity to develop in a weaker league and come back much stronger next season. Perhaps we could organise a pre season game to ensure we stay connected next season.

Novos boys - a great win and delighted for the colts Brandon Gilbert and Oli Taylor to explore senior mens rugby. I thought Elliot Smith was very calm with ball in hand on his debut and again showed the 2's are capable of stepping up to the 1's. Very pleased that selection of a heavy pack paid dividends during the 80 mins. I thought Paddy Sowter was excellent at 9 in his first game for the 1's for some time. Outside him Jonny Winterhalder had a great game at 10.

Man of the Match was awarded to Darren Kelly with mentions in dispatches for the play of Sean Ramsay and Jack Hearn.

Richard of the Day went to Sean Ramsay for missing out on four tries after the Gateshead 9 nipped in to ground a ball that we had pushed over the try line.

Next week we are hopeful that our home match vs Barnard Castle will take place.

Up the Vos !