Match Report

This week Novos made the long trip down to Bishop Auckland for a bottom of the table clash, in search of a desperately needed win. With the side beginning to look a little short on numbers after being let down by a couple of players at the last minute, Novos knew they would have a battle on their hands.

Before kick off, Bishop Auckland and Novocastrians lined up for a minutes silence in memory of former club steward Malcolm O’Shea.

The first half was unfortunately not one for the solitary Novos travelling supporter, Mr Willis, as both sides fought hard for possession, of which the vast majority was maintained by Bishop. Novos decision making was poor, and too often possession was given away. It took over 20 minutes for the firsts point to be scored - a Bishop penalty put them in front at 3-0, however Novos persistence paid off when Ben Walker, back from university, barrelled over the Bishop line, and with a successful conversion from Jack Callaghan, Novos took the lead 3-7. No further points were scored in the first half, and the game remained as broken and fractious as it started.

The second half started much more positively for Novos as new additions from the bench, David Addison and Richard Seed, linked up nicely to break through the Bishop defence and put Fanda Vohanka in for a well worked try and take the score to 3-12. It wasn’t long until Novos were back in the points as Adam Broadbent made an excellent break to eventually lead to Walker’s second try of the afternoon. Bishop responded quickly with a converted try, shortly followed by another penalty of their own to make it 13-17 and keep them in contention. Unfortunate injuries to Cam Wilson (nose) and Justin Taylor (knee), who were playing brilliantly, saw them sidelined for the rest of the match, but it wasn’t enough to stop Novos securing the win with some magical footwork by James Bass saw him dance across the Bishop line from scrum-half, and another penalty from Callaghan to finish things up at 13-25.
Novos will feel slightly relieved to have gone home with a win considering how disappointingly they started. Many thanks go to Bishop Auckland for a closely fought contest, and particularly to their physio for attending to our two injured players.

With Northern at home this week followed by the Junior Cup Final, Novos have two huge weeks ahead of them!

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