NovosSex-God 3rd Team v Gateshead 3rds

Renowned throughout senior rugby circles as almost certainly the prettiest player in the British game, Jonny Ward had the rare experience of being rendered only moderately good-looking among the devastatingly handsome squad that took the field forNovos 3rds on Saturday.

However, as the prodigal one finally recovered his senses and made a welcome return from the dark side, having re-signed for Novosfrom Percy Park during the week, he made an immediate impact to play a big part as the world’s pre-eminent junior rugby side made it three victories in a row with another well-earned win at Eastwood Road against their counter-parts from Gateshead.

While his younger brother was starring with the big boys in their top of the table first team clash back over the Tyne at the sacred cathedral of rugby that is Sutherland Park, Wardy senior enjoyed plenty of action as his team-mates and (even more frequently!) loose kicks from the opposition, fed him the chance to turn on a great display of pace and movement that will no doubt soon see him clawed away to the higher teams. In fact he was well placed as part of a very pacey back three and in which Jason Mac, Aaron and second half replacement Richard Seed would have had an absolute field day on a drier pitch and given their superb collective work rate.

Jonny’s re-introduction came to a strong but wholly legitimate third team squad which had been met with a puzzling challenge from the Gateshead fixture secretary during the week but perhaps that was an attempt at gaining a psychological advantage as the home side were clearly taking this friendly quite seriously.

Fortunately the weather-gods had relented after the unexpected blizzards of the previous night,with a light breeze and bright sunshine, as kick-off approachedbut the pitch was still heavy and slippery, which was obviously going to favour the larger home forwards.
Novos took some moments to find their feet and Gateshead drew first blood when their speedy full-back collected a missed touch-finder well infield, before running past a weak midfield chase to touch-down under the posts with the easy conversion giving them a seven point lead after only three minutes.

Despite a lot of good work by individuals and smaller unit groups, Novos struggled slightly to establish proper continuity with their much-changed line up and this early setback seemed to typify the opening quarter as Novosworked hard to win good territory but without being able to maintain and develop enough possession in the home half to get proper reward for their efforts.

However enough was seen to confirm that a hard fought afternoon was in store for both sides and that officiating decisions were notalways going to be predictable.At an early stage and perhaps sensing a chance to unsettle their generally younger and smaller visitors, several of the wily, experienced heads in the Gateshead team began to indulge in some of rugby’s darker arts as they sought to bring an aggressive edge to the initial exchanges.During the first quarter the home side enjoyed a powerful scrummage platform which had to be met with determined defence as Gateshead dominated territory.

However the line-out was holding up well and Novos had a clear advantage when the game became looser and more open and they were able to launch more frequent attacks with both backs and forwards making good ground. When one of these raids was held up just five metres short by a stretchedhome defence, the Novos back row produced fast ball for a neat blind-side pop pass to feed the fearsome beast that is James Desmond on the charge and he stormed over on the narrow side with a couple of defenders hanging off him to open Novos account. The conversion was missed from wide-out, as were two penalty shot by the normally infallible Jack Callaghan.

The tough exchanges continued as Novosnow settled themselves into the game with the likes of Des, Stewart Wilson, Mark Hemmings, Mike Coussins on his fun-bus and Michael Williams all carrying through the hard yards and with Justin shifting the ball well from scrum-half, the backs were starting to find some space for their flying back three. As such it was a little against the run of play and prevailing styles, when Gateshead scored their second try just before half-time with a wide looping break from deep by the same full-back who this time put his winger away to score another converted try to leave the half-time score at 14:5 to Gateshead.

The talk at halftime centred on upping our intensity and aggression and the introduction of the geographically challenged Martin Blight (who had gone to Ryton rather than Gateshead and missed the kick-off!) brought extra dynamism and pace to the pack. However the first ten minutes of the half saw Novos forced into fierce defensive duties as the home side, supplemented by a couple of impressive looking replacements, threw everything at their visitors line and drew the best out of a Novos team who tackled like dervishes.

In fact the force of the defensive effort eventually drew a forced pass from the Gateshead midfield which Jonny Ward read perfectly to intercept and out-pace everyone to score with an 85 metre sprint under the posts. Almost inexplicably, Jason hit the post with his conversion attempt as Novos continued to let points slip from the boot but the score spurred a resurgent Novos back onto the attack and the pack in particular really began to take the game to Gateshead.

Not that the game was wholly turning in Novos favour – after enduring several visiting attacks Gateshead surged back and took full territorial advantage of being allowed a very dubious quick line-out that saw Des come close to a coronary in his efforts to suggest that the ref may possibly have made a wrong decision. After good defence through a series of attacking phases, an uncharacteristic gap was left in the fringe cover as Gatsehead managed to score with an inside pass putting the flanker in under the post-outs though this time the conversion was missed after a strong chase-out from both centres as the kicker took his shot.

Novos went straight back on the offensive and were able to build pressure in the home 22 as the Gateshead pack appeared to tire and it wasn’t long before Jonny notched has second try after Des and Andy Gardiner had done the hard work for Ward to touch down from short range to bring Novos back to 15:19 with the conversion missed from wide out on the right. From the restart it wasn’t long before the Marvellously Magnificent 3rds went one better and from a similar series of forward drives half-time replacement prop Alan Pitchford underlined his lively performance by forcing over for another short range try, again out on the wide right flank and even though the conversion was missed Novos were in the lead for the first time in the match.

The game continued to see-saw as both sides looked for the killer score and this seemed to have arrived for Gateshead, immediately after Novos had reshaped their midfield when Tommy Wilson (the elder) had to be replaced for being too old and tired, with their big centre being allowed a straight run through from first phase ball to score under the posts and Gateshead regained a six point lead with the game well inside its last ten minutes. However the spirited Novos team sensed that the game was still there to be won and worked their way back down the pitch to lay siege to the home line.

A couple of very kickable penalties were declined as the Gateshead defence creaked but just managed to hold out as Novos looked for their fifth try which came after good, patient phase play gave Jack Callaghan possession ten metres out and after tricking the defence by seeming to hesitate part way through his break he darted through two challenges to score beside the posts. The score sparked a flurry between both sets of players as Dan Wright found his ankle deliberately trampled by the big no 8 as he helped drive Jack over – Dan had probably annoyed the big guy by his relentless ferreting all afternoon but Jack’s cool conversion will have wound him up even more as Novos grabbed a one point lead.

There was still time for more drama though. The restart was well fielded by Des and as Gateshead seemed to dive over the top and encroach at the side of a firmly set ruck, the referee awarded them a penalty that none of the visiting support could begin to understand. He then marched Novos back 10 metres, presumably for some back-chat, and as the home fly half opted to kick for goal it was clear that the penalty shot was going to be the last play of a close fought game. The kick was pulled wide and was touched down safely to the relief of a very happy third team and the visible disappointment of the kicker.

Respect is due to a tough Gateshead side who were very keen to nail a win on their own pitch and contributed fully to a really enjoyable battle but as Des had us all smiling like maniacs in the huddle at the end, the best summing-up of the afternoon was from the poetic words of a certain Martin Blight – “I bloody love playing rugby, me”!