Novos 35, Guisborough 21 - What a Day

A hotly contested affair in North Yorkshire saw Novocastrians hold off a late surge from the home side emerging 35 – 21 victors, blowing the title race wide open as Novocastrians keep promotion in their sights.

It looks to be a 3-horse race now as the gap between the top 3 and the rest of the table has extended out to 10 points. Sunderland now sit in the driver's seat going into the final 3 games of the league season on 76 points after an impressive looking display against Acklam, Guisborough drop into second on 73 and Novo’s bring their tally to 70 after a bonus point win against the former leaders.

Guisborough kicked off into the wind to get the game underway and after some miscommunication, the home team scrambled quicker than the challengers to regain possession and territory 40 metres out, a slow start from the men in red, white and black but it would prove later in the half that Novos were simply finding their feet in tricky conditions for the first 10 minutes.

The first points fell the way of Novo’s 20 minutes in through a Michael Searle penalty 20 metres out. After some tactical briliance through the likes of Rhys Merlane and Lewis Chater we kept the home side pinned into their half battling the wind before piling on the pressure to eventually win the penalty from out in front when a Guisborough player failed to roll from the bottom of a ruck. 3-0 up but the game was still all to play for.

We kept up our tactics as the wind and rain continued to bear down on the field of play, another kick came from Michael Searle this time and resulted in a lineout 10 metres out from the Guisborough line. Alex Watson this time, read the move perfectly and swiped the ball from the Guisborough second row mid-air. The forwards kept hold of possession for the following phases of play before Sion Gittins bundled his way through several attempted tacklers to score. Some very un-novocastrians style of play 30 minutes in but we lead 10-0 after Searle got his first conversion of the day.

5 minutes later the lead was extended once again through another Searle penalty, after the ball was deemed to be out of the ruck, Louis Matthews had the presence of mind to poach around the fringes for a steal, before being pushed back illegally so from the Guisborough defence. 35 minutes in, 13-0 Novos.

That would stand to be the half time score after a shot at goal from the home team fell just short of the uprights from a scrum penalty, a difficult kick given the wind on the day, but Novos had no complaints as they headed for the half time huddle. A great opportunity presented itself in front of the squad, a chance to do something not many teams have been able to do this season and beat the table toppers away from home.

Knowing how crucial it was to score the first blow in the second half we came out firing with some crunching hits and important turnovers, the likes of George Bambrick and both the Gittins brothers doing the unseen work behind the scenes to grant us field position. Eventually, the penalty was awarded for a high challenge, and Searle calmly extended our lead to 16 points.

Guisborough refused to go down without a fight however. Louis Matthews received a yellow card for an infringement around the ruck, and after some confusion with the decision to take the 3 points or not, eventually a lineout was awarded 5 meters out from the Novos line. A great contest in the maul saw them halted temporarily but Guisborough's inevitable size and strength forced them over in the corner.

The scrum half found the extras with a great touchline conversion and brought the affair to within 2 scores again. 16-7.

Just as Guisborough began to build themselves back into the game a penalty was conceded. Sam Busby who had a quiet game attacking wise up until this point saw the space and made 30 metres from inside his own half before releasing Brandon Gilbert down the left hand side, with the tide of game turning once again, he earned us a scrum on the 22, a prime attacking opportunity for the backs to play with. The scrum held firm and provided a solid platform to play with as Lewis Chater and Ben Jubb linked up to get the latter a line break, before feeding Michael Searle who put in his best kick off the day along the floor to bounce up perfectly for the oncoming Michael Lehmann to dive over in the corner, to bring us to a comfortable 21-7.

We didn't take our foot of the gas there however, as fresh on the field Ollie Towe hung a well-placed box kick that found grass in behind the opposing winger, with his back turned to the oncoming Towe, the ball was thrown in field to stay in the air for what seemed like an eternity before eventually it was plucked from the air by the scrum half to dive under the posts from 30 meters out. Much to the elation of the away supporters. Searle added the easy extras and brought our tally to 28.

A spirited and determined home team forced us back into our 22 with some impressive keep ball and strong carrying before a Michael Searle steal and kick rewarded us with a lineout 15 metres out. The forwards secured the ball and we played off the top to eventually find Ben Jubb who wrestled his way through the tacklers to find the line for the bonus point try to seal the match on the 70-minute mark.

The game ended 35-21 after a late flurry of converted scores from Guisborough when Novos were again reduced to 14 as Michael Lehmann was yellow carded for a head on head tackle. Those two late try's brought the game to within 14 points but Novos would walk away convincing winners for a 5 point win away from home and the league leaders getting nothing.

Great hospitality by Guisborough - much appreciated, great food, speeches and a few beers.

Thanks to the ref who was one of the best we have had this season despite the two yellow cards. Thought he had a great afternoon in charge of the game.

Special shout out to all the old fellas who came down to support us - what a day. As expected there was two serious injuries on the night despite their being none from the game itself. When will we ever learn !

We return to Sutherland Park this Saturday for a fixture away from the leauge calender against Alnwick in the semi-final of the cup. Preview to follow later this week but kick off is at 1430.

Up The Vos!