Welcome to the CANDY league - Biff!

Novos were forced into some late changes but it did little to alter a purposeful approach to proceedings from the home side, Novos had a good side on the pitch and were in a focussed mood to cause an upset against lofty opposition.

Blaydon started by far the stronger side, creating several chances but with 20 minutes gone had not unlocked a determined Novos defencive effort. Indeed it was a Novos mistake that led to Blaydon's first try, attempting to take a quick tap Novos turned the ball over and Blaydon span it wide effectively to score in the corner through a handy winger, their fly half who at 17 was making his senior debut slotted a touchline conversion, 0-7 to Blaydon.

Novos soaked up more pressure but began to win some turnovers of their own and with ball in hand looked capable of causing the visitors more than a few problems, some good running from Mark Curphey, Jordan Robinson and Will Pilkington were making advances and when opportunity to move the ball wide presented it was done well with both Skipper Fife and Sam Burnside creating space. A long run from Rory Diggle was halted on the Blaydon 22 but the flying winger tweaked his hamstring in the run, an injury that would end his afternoon at half time. From the lineout Novos pressured the fly half into a hurried clearance and gained an opportunity to throw in just outside Blaydon's 22. Chris Ward won the ball and offloaded to Thomas Armitage he fired the backs and Fife and Burnside again combined to create space for Ben Adcock to fly in to the corner and score Novos 1st try in the CANDY league.

Blaydon restarted well and scored a try after a strong scrum and a well worked move to make it 5-14 (The young and very talented number 10 adding the extras). A sleepy Novos defence allowed another score almost from kick off for 5-19 but the whooping and hollering from Blaydon players did still seem premature! Novos concluded the half on the defencive and Blaydon added a penalty for a 5 - 22 deficit when the referee called a halt for half time.

Novos needed to up their game in the 2nd half or face a real drubbing, thankfully Novos chose to step up and to a man set about the task with real gusto. Novos began to force errors from Blaydon and capitalise on these mistakes. Tommy Wilson Senior a week shy of his 50th birthday was defending like a collosus against an opposite number potentially 30 years his junior! A typical Wilson tackle saw Blaydon spill the ball forward and Chris Ward (as was typical in a real quality display from the 18 year old) was on it like a flash, Novos won the ruck and went wide, a blockbusting run from Jordan Robinson set play up 10 metres out and Richie Mitchell was on hand to apply the finish to bring Novos back into touch with Fife adding the conversion 12-22. From Kick off Novos got back on the attack and a majestic touch finder from Chris Fife brought play deep into Blaydon territory, Ward stole the lineout and Novos attacked the fringes well with a series of forward drives, eventually Mike Cousins forced his way over from 5 yards to make it 17 - 22 and Blaydon were very rattled.

From Kick off Novos again attacked and a break from Burnside was stopped 5 metres short, with a 3 on 2 Novos hit a miss pass which allowed the cover defence to move across and bundle Jason Mcdermott into touch just yards out from a levelling score.

This turned out to be a game defining moment as Blaydon cleared and were able to work their way back into the game. from then Blaydon finished stronger, big runs from their front 3 were becoming more difficult to halt and a break from their hooker was only stopped by an excellent cover tackle from John Addison, the offload though found the flying wing who screamed over from 20 yards and give Blaydon a bonus point. As Novos went in search of their own Bonus they gave the ball away and Blaydon worked their way back down the pitch to score again right on full time to give the game a slightly more one sided scoreline that was deserved at 17-32.

This was a gritty performance from Novos who stood up to their feisty and talented opposition bravely, In the end it was a fair result and Blaydon were full value for the win, Novos however deserved a bonus point or two for their efforts and can feel hard done by not to have gotten one.

Some of Blaydon's young players have a great future ahead of them, you could tell their front row was coached by Micky Ward, they were a fantastic unit, strong, fit and very technically sound and out wide the young fly half was a cracking player. For Novos a few players stood out, Burnside, Armitage, Curphey and Robinson all did very well and Paddy Davies was brave as a lion playing 80 minutes at prop with badly bruised ribs. Out wide Novos looked dangerous and all the backs had a good run. Man of the Match though was Chris Ward, superb in the lineout and great work rate around the park, the youngster will surely be rewarded with first team opportunities if his form continues.