Novos 29, Alnwick 2's 20 - Into The Final

Novocastrians hosted Alnwick Lions at Sutherland Park on Saturday in what was a well matched and physical affair. Several changes to the squad meant the team was full of attacking promise during the first half but struggled to cope with a strong Alnwick resurgence in the second half, before eventually getting back to their feet to score a last minute try to seal the game.

The game started out in typical knockout rugby fashion, physical and passionate attack and defense on display from both teams clearly both with something to prove. Players on debut for the home side fighting for a start in next week's league fixture as well as some very skillful Alnwick opponents clearly pushing for a place in an impressive Alnwick 1st XV side.

Barney Youlden opened the scoring for Novos after 15 minutes of early dominance and pressure inside the Alnwick half, with a penalty from in front of the sticks. Alnwick didn't take long to respond however as from the resulting kickoff they forced a penalty from 35 metres to punish Novos after some sloppy play inside their own half. The flyhalf stepped up to level the game and after roughly 20 minutes of play there was nothing to separate the teams at 3-3.

The first try of the game would come 25 minutes in after a superb counter-attack from 80 metres out. After winning the turnover Dylan Gittins and Ben Jubb worked to spread the ball into the hands of Johnny Allton, who shrugged off a tackler to release Rhys Merlane, Dylan Gittins was on his onside and after juggling the ball between the two of them the ball eventually found its way to the hands of debutant Max Cook, who had the pace to finish off a great try in the corner. Cup rugby at its finest.

The second try would fall in favour of Novos again after we sensed the opportunity to strike twice in quick concession just 5 minutes later. The try was scored by scrum-half Merlane but created solely through a piece of individual brilliance from man of the match Barney Youlden. A speculative looking self chip and chase bounced up perfectly for the fly-half to regather and left with just the full back to beat and his scrum half tearing up on his inside, a well weighted grubber kick sat up for Merlane to snap up and dive over the line. Youlden added the extras to his assist and Novos led 15-3.

Alnwick certainly wouldn’t go down without a fight however, and after Charlie Lawlor was yellow carded for not retreating 10 metres from a penalty, it took the away side less than a minute to take advantage of the lesser numbers and after several strong carries, eventually they forced their way over the line in the far 15-metre channel. A fair distance from the posts and the kick fell unsuccessful, meaning Novos retained a 7-point lead at 15-8.

Louis Matthews earnt us the final say of the half, with some help after a hugely dominant scrum from Tom Dias, Johnny McSorley and fresh off the bench youngster David Lawson. Earning us the penalty advantage it gave us a free play to use, and after some powerful work from the forwards, back rower Louis Matthews saw a gap in the Alnwick defense and forced his way over for our third. Extras added by Youlden and we had a comfortable 22-8 lead.

Alnwick had a point to prove however and with a cup final on the line they brought the energy and accuracy in the second half, scoring two back-to-back tries and converting one of them, narrowing the gap to only 2 points. After some spirited defense Alnwick powered their way over the line as they did so well all game and for the first time in the fixture Novos could feel the lead slipping away from in the dying moments.

Panic stations began to set in briefly but after regaining composure a great setup at the scrum allowed the backs to find holes, and after Max Cook made a half break in the outside channels the rest of the game was spent inside the Alnwick half. Turning down the opportunity at goal we went to the corner to wind down the clock and after hammering away at the line, finally Dylan Gittins found a hole before feeding Sam Busby in the corner for the winner. As the clock hit red, Barney Youlden hit as sweet a kick as he would hit all day to make the conversion. Final score 29-20 to Novos.

Thanks to the Alnwick lads - thought your 2/8/9/15 axis were amazing and must surely push the men above them to excel.

Cheers to Yannick Debil for an excellent performance in the middle - looked very confident, demanded tacklers move and was up with play to spot a couple of forward passes by both teams.

We await to see who our final will be against with Border Park set to play Ponteland at some stage – however our bit is done.

Up the Vos !