U10's @ Northern Festival 26/04/14

Match Report by John Liddell.

Novos took one team to the Northern Festival on what turned out to be a day of firsts; First time at Northern (though Northern’s U10 team were sadly absent), first time Novos played in their ‘change’ white away kit (shirts inside out to avoid a colour clash with Morpeth), first time playing against Yorkshire sides Otley and West Park, and Scottish side Watsonians, and the first time a kick off was decided via an arm wrestle instead of a coin toss (think the Yorkshire Ref was worried about losing his coin).

Novos got things started against Morpeth (good effort with the arm wrestling Thomas W). Both teams got stuck right in with Novos edging it as play moved up and down the pitch and both teams effectively cancelled each other out. Just before half time Sam Irons took a pass from the ruck and made a neat diagonal run to score the opening try in the corner. Morpeth came out strongly in the second half and started to impose themselves on the game. Wes and Sam Ogivlie were on hand to make a series of battling tackles to keep Morpeth at bay, and Alfie went on a number of charging runs that always threatened. Morpeth grabbed a deserved try in the last play of the game and the game finished one apiece.

Next came Otley – a Yorkshire outfit with an eye catching kit (black and white zebra stripes combined with a red and yellow flame effect if you’re interested). This was a very physical encounter, and started with some thundering runs by Otley being cancelled out by full blooded tackles from Novos. After some brave rucking from Ryan C, Ben got a quick ball to Ryan M who ran from the half way line to score. Otley responded by throwing everything at Novos and eventually broke through the defence to score and level the game. Otley started to gain in confidence and grabbed another just before half time to take the lead. The second half saw Otley start brightly and score very quickly to extend the lead. Novos didn’t crumble but played most of the second half in a defensive role with JPL, Sam Ogilvie, Wes & Tom S all making tough tackles to keep the score down, and the game ended 3-1 to Otley.

Next it was Scottish side Watsonians 1. Novos were battered and bruised from their previous game, but in typical fashion they shrugged off any lingering disappointment and got stuck into the opposition right from the KO. Sonny and Tom S were soon dominating the ruck and a quick pass to Sam Irons gave him the space to sprint in the opening try. Novos were soon playing their passing game and Ryan C took a bullet of a ball from Thomas W before side stepping two defenders and scoring. Watsonians were still in the game and got one of their own in a rare lapse in defensive concentration from Novos just before half time. The second half saw a Novos textbook passing display pull the Watsonians defence out of shape time and time again allowing Sam Irons the space to score an amazing 3 tries and complete the game 5-1 to Novos.

A quick break and Novos were straight back in the action against another Yorkshire side – West Park 2. They breed their teams tough in Yorkshire and this was a testing encounter for all concerned. Novos went close to scoring early on with both Ryan C and Ryan M being denied by a solid West Park defence. Following some good rucking from Alfie, Sam Irons took a neat pass from Ben and ran the full length of pitch to score. West Park almost sneaked one at the death of the first half but Ryan M was alert to the threat and chased their attack down preventing a certain try. At the start of the second half a brilliant passing move by West Park got them a deserved try to level the score and they scored again soon after to take the lead. Despite a couple of searching runs by Sonny, the rest of the half was a scrappy affair, until Ryan C, with the tenacity of a mackem fighting his way out of a relegation battle, ran through two tackles and scored the equaliser in the final play of the game. Score 2-2.

The penultimate game of the day was against Watsonians 2 and Novos were brilliant – a fantastic display of strength and skill. The Watsonians players barely got a touch in the first half and tries from Ryan C, JPL, Sam Irons and Thomas W had Novos firmly in control. Early in the second half Sam Irons got another and it didn’t look like there was a way back into the game for Watsonians. However, the opposition kept pushing and eventually bundled the ball, and half their team, over the Novos line. A Novos fumbled ball at the half way line was quickly picked up by an alert Watsonian player, who ran in their second unchallenged. Watsonians mounted a few more attacks but Novos were content to sit back and keep a solid defensive line to keep them out. In the closing seconds of the game, Alfie took the ball on a trade mark straight run up the park, charging through and over the various tackle attempts from the Watsonians defence, to get a try in the last seconds of the game. Final score 6-2 to Novos.

Final game and another tough encounter with Yorkshire opposition. West Park 1 were a solid unit and kept the Ref busy with a series of high tackles which left a number of Novos players hurt. West Park scored early and by consistently dominating the ruck, they were retaining the ball and always pushing Novos back towards their own line. The pressure resulted in West Park scoring another two tries and Novos were fighting to stay in the game. West Park almost grabbed a fourth before half time when one of their players broke out of the middle, found space and ran for home. He was chased down by JPL who put him into touch with a crunching tackle. The second half started a bit more even with Novos giving as good as they got on the physical side but West Park were quick to capitalise on a Novos dropped ball and scored. At 4-0 many would be forgiven for thinking Novos were down and out, but this side don’t lose easily and the fight back began following West Park being penalised for a high tackle. Ben took the resulting free pass and keeping it simple, found Ryan C who didn’t mess around, bursting through the defence and scoring. Next Sonny took a well worked pass from Wes and showed a clean pair of heels as he sprinted over the line. West Park were starting to look ragged and when Tom S scored, they must have been praying for the whistle. They got their wish as the Ref blew soon after, making the final score 4-3 to West Park but there’s no doubt that given an extra minute or two, Novos would have taken this game.

All in all a great tournament and one which showed that this Novos team can more than hold their own against tough opposition.