Cook Kicks Consett To Victory

Novos went into the match on the back of two good training sessions and added confidence in the knowledge they had won the two previous encounters against their opponents. The warm up went well and there was a feeling of a good performance on its way.

Exchanges early on were in Novos half and a result of a stray boot in just the 3rd min Chris Ward left for the hospital to get a wide cut sorted. Novos settled into their work despite this and Iain Dodds entered the fray and he and Josh Stacey were getting Novos over the gain line and in control of the match.

As I was bundling Chris Ward off into his Geordie Ambulance I heard some cheers from our section of support. I was then informed that Sam Busby had gathered up a chip kick and put Jonny Ward in for our first try. Consett responded well and Nick Cook struck the first of his long range penalties. Novos 5-3

The lads were really playing well, getting into the structure that we had worked on at training. This reaped further reward as we worked our way up field and won a lineout 10m from Consett's line. Pete Twentyman hit his man and we drove the ball over the line with the help of a few backs. Delight turned to disgust as the forwards realised Matthew Kilgore had joined on the back of the maul and nicked a try off the pack ! Novos 10-3.

Consett were never going to go away and they started to make a few breaks via their fly half and centres. One missed tackle to many and they were in for a score, converted by Cook. In a period of pressure Consett scored two more long range penalties as their fullback continued his fine display with his boot. Consett 16-10.

The game then took a further twist as Novos got back into their earlier gear driven forward by a dominant pack. We were putting pressure on at scrum time, winning all our lineout ball and controlling territory nicely. After a series of attacks, Rich Harrison put in a delicate chip for Shaun Stewart to race in at the corner. Novos took further control of the game as Jonny Ward grabbed his second of the day, converted by Stewart for a Novos lead of 22-16 with 20 mins to go.

Unfortunately, as has been the case recently Novos started making some crucial errors at either end of the field. Firstly, it looked as if we were going to score, only to cough up possession and see Consett counter attack and score. A massive blow after it did look like we were about to drive another lineout in. Then with five mins to go Consett struck a hammer blow in denying us even a losing bonus point as we made a mistake from a lineout 5m from our line. Consett win 30-22.

Gutted for the lads who gave everything and were probably the better side for 50-60 mins. However, in that 20 mins Consett were good enough to score a few tries. However, the biggest difference between the two sides was the kicking of Consett as the kicked a couple of long range penalties and converted all of their tries.

I have noticed real strides in our play of late and we are close to that elusive win which has evaded us for some time. On Saturday, our pack won the set piece battle, we saw the return of Josh Igoe and Richard Dodd, Jez Nash looks back to his best, Rich Harrison kicked well and in Jonny Ward we have a try scoring weapon.

This week is massive for the club as our first team take on Gosforth and our other three sides have cup matches. So get down and support the club this week as we continue on our path of what has already been a successful season for Novos.