Novos Storm To Victory

Today was ex-captains day at Novos and they were able to witness a fine display of running rugby from Novos, well in the second half they did.

Novos conceded early in an error ridden first half as our players were unable to keep possession. It is important that when we are not playing well we find a way to stay in games until we click. The scrum again was very solid putting some real pressure on Blyth and securing all our own ball.

With just a few minutes left in the second half things finally started to gel and a great team try was scored. Most of the players in the team must have touched the ball before feeding James Bass who sprinted into the corner. 5-5 all at half time and signs passes were starting to stick.

The second half saw some great rugby by both sides as eight tries in total with Novos getting six of them. Firstly, new signing Matt Kilgore cut a great line to trot in for an unconverted try. Then a few minutes later Jonny Ward scored a great individual try as he chose to ignore his team mates and beat 4-5 Blyth defenders instead. Novos up 17-5 as the conversion was added by Kilgore.

Changes came in the second half as the big fellas were rotated and everyone that got on made a big impact. Novos stretched the lead to 22-5 and Bass stood up his opposite number and scorched into the corner. Then another sublime piece of skill from Ward saw him chip and regather before running away from the cover defence for his second try, converted by Kilgore. Novos up 29-5.

Blyth never gave in and had some good moments in the game. They carried well but most of the time we were able to make our tackles. Tries were exchanged in the last 20 minutes as Blyth went in before Ben Merrett crashed over after some great driving work by the forwards. Novos final try was scored by Lex Leonard who again showed what a promising talent he is.

Our opposition played to the end and were rewarded with the last score making the final result 39-17 to Novos.

This was a great result for us as we were not really that close to beating them last season. Blyth will get stronger as some of their players return to fitness so hopefully they will do us some favours as we seek to improve our league position from last season. The scrum is the difference in our recent improvements as our new signings have added some size to our squad. This is giving our backs the go forward they need to unleash the pace we have out wide.

Thanks to Graham Crozier for doing a great job with the whistle. No real injury concerns for us, 56 points scored in 80 mins despite an error ridden first half from both teams.

Next week we travel to Guisborough hoping to put in a better display than we did last time we were there. We have some momentum up so we will go there with the confidence that we are playing some good rugby at the moment.

Training this week Tuesday and Thursday at Druids 1845 for a 1900 start. Rob Vickers will be up on Thursday to ensure the set piece continues to improve. Lets all get down to training as we are hoping to get four sides out this week.