Novos 3's 40, Sunderland 3's 12 - A Great Day

A brace of tries from our very own Adam Lambert and Queen puns from the touchline to burn helped Novos 3s remain in their Hot Space of recent form by beating Sunderland 3s by 40 points to 12.

A robust and bulky Sunderland began aggressively and tore into Novos in the first ten minutes. Having dominated recent matches between the two sides, Sunderland were looking to exploit Novos 3s’ notoriously bad first ten minutes and one of the casualties of this onslaught was full back Phil Howard-Johnston, who picked up a nasty gash on the nose and made way for Ben Wilkinson. However, uncharacteristically sturdy Novos defence kept our Mackem adversaries at bay.

Catching the eye in the hand-to-hand combat of these initial skirmishes were stylish second-row Theo (pronounced Teeo if we ever want to be allowed back into Europe!) Mouille, tough-as-teak prop Ben Rodgers and fleet-footed No.8 James “Pitchy’s Protégé” James Bass, who all put in several try saving tackles and robust turn-overs to keep Sunderland at bay. Another encouraging feature of these early exchanges was the determined scrummaging of the Novos pack who (even allowing for captain Ian Wood!) were much lighter than their Sunderland counterparts. With Sunderland on the verge of smashing Novos’ doors in (front doors, I hasten to add), back-from-injury centre Sam Bird broke free from inside his own half, dropped his shoulder and left Sunderland’s full back for dead to cross the line and give Novos the lead. Bird then converted his try and after 15 minutes, Novos were 7-0 up. Novocastrian Rhapsody indeed!!

There was more joy for Novos five minutes later (and more excuses for Queen puns) when flying winger Lambert drove his opposite number Stone Cold Crazy with a shimmy and burst of pace to run in Novos’ second try. Novos 12 – Sunderland 0. However, sloppy play from Novos from the restart handed Sunderland’s impressive No.4 the time and space in possession to orchestrate a try at the DSS end. With Novos’ Rules also applying, Novos lead was suddenly cut to 5 and they were now Under Pressure. With Bird then going straight into touch from the re-start and earning himself a free pint for being D*%k of the Day, half-time could not come fast enough. Fortunately, mistakes at the line-out and in open play possession from both sides ensured that Novos reached the break 12 – 7 to the good.

Following some tactical substitutions courtesy of the genius management team of Croft, Gittins and Wilson Snr and constructive team talking from Ian Wood and maverick scrum-half Christian Selkirk, Novos began the second half with renewed aggression and purpose. Now playing downhill towards the DSS and knowing that every try was worth 7 points, Novos looked to run an increasingly leaden-footed Sunderland into the ground. Central to this tactic was Selkirk who looked to kick into the space behind the Sunderland winger at every opportunity and allow the pacy Novos three-quarters to press. It wasn’t long before this pressure paid off with Lambert latching onto a probing Selkirk kick to go over the line, enter the land of jug-avoidance (severity of fine to be confirmed) and put Novos 12 points up.

With a punch drunk Sunderland now looking like Death on Two Legs and just waiting for the Hammer to Fall, it was the Novos forwards who grabbed the limelight next with second row Alex Watson gaining just reward for several incisive earlier carries by storming over the line through a crowd of Sunderland players to put Novos 26 – 7 in front. With confidence in overdrive, Adam Buick (now on for Sam Bird) went over Novos’ 5th try of the game, following some slick handling from Selkirk and fly-half Harry Jones.

Although Sunderland valiantly pressed on to earn a consolation second try, Jones rounded off an emphatic Novos second half with the last try of the game to make the final score Novos 40 – Sunderland 12.

After the game, the Novos 3s squad were in boisterous mood and rightly so. Despite sloppy line-out play and the odd panic in possession, they proved that they could front-up and defend. If you then add in their established proficiency for scoring tries (21 across the last three games alone), brawling with spectators and drinking alcohol excessively, they’re now officially a proper rugby team. A Kind of Magic for sure!!

Match Stats:
Tries: Adam Lambert (2), Alex Watson (1), Adam Buick (1), Harry Jones (1) and Sam Bird (1).
Conversions: Bird (1), Novos Rules (4).
Killer Queen (Man of the Match): Theo Mouille – set the defensive example which created the platform for the victory.
Tenement Funster (D&%k of the Day): Sam Bird – sending his restart straight into touch was nothing we haven’t seen from a Novos player before but he made himself an easy target by standing in front of Woody when he gave the captain’s speech in the clubhouse afterwards