I am under the impression I must watch my words in the upcoming match report lest I accidentally offend somebody again with an accurate reflection of the match played. However, in more positive news there were only 1-2 ‘incidents' to report this time around I suppose, perhaps as a result of the final scoreline which heavily favoured the home side. A scoreline that the supporters of the red, white, and black will be eager to put behind them sooner rather than later.

The fixture kicked off in a typical fashion as Josh Farley pinned our opponents inside their 22 from the first play. Ponteland opted to complete a series of pick and go’s from the base of the ruck and managed to march their way up to the 10-meter line after some, quite frankly, shocking tackle height on our behalf. Eventually the ball was knocked on, but it was a precursor to what was to come for the next 79 minutes.

17 of the 18-man squad can accept they each had a poor day at the office on Saturday, with the exception only being held only for the youngster prop Solomon Mak on his 1st XV starting debut. The 18-year-old was immense at scrum time, taking on and besting Ponteland’s main threat in years gone by, but with Mak on the field the threat was neutralized from the off.

Ponteland scored the first 7 points of the day as their centre jinked his way through some poor team defence for the opening score.

Novos replied after an outstanding effort in front of the sticks at scrum time meant the opposition’s tight-head simply couldn’t deal with the pressure and a penalty was awarded for us to convert to make the game 3-7. A brilliant display from our loosehead not only at scrum time but his work rate around the park as well means he comfortably goes home with a well-deserved Vos Man Of The Match performance for us, something to be proud of despite the end result.

Short spells with the ball unsurprisingly resulted in no points, as error after error at our lineout and round the park we put the ball down and eventually invited our opponents back inside our 22. A driving maul was brought down illegally and after taking a quick tap from a few meters out, our defense must have looked to have disappeared as a Ponteland player went in untouched to score in the corner.

Half time: Novos 3 – 12 Ponteland

We found ourselves in a situation not unfamiliar to Novocastrians sides in seasons gone by, but even with the optimism of scoring a bonus point try and completing another Novocastrians style come back being discussed in the half time huddle, we just couldn’t seem to make any of it click or come together at any point in the final 40 minutes. Another softly conceded try from a tap penalty extended the score out to 17-6 after a second Josh Farley penalty earlier in the half. A try that would not immediately, but ultimately seal our fate in the game. With the clock running closer and closer to 80 minutes we had another decision to choose points or pressure and again chose the 3 to make it an 8-point game despite us not having scored a try so far in the fixture with only 20 minutes left to play. A tactical decision that at the time felt against the spirit of what Novo's rugby has come to be all about, bringing in mixed opinions from the players involved.

A short while later we would be pinned down in our half yet again, with the scrum swinging in favour of Ponteland in the final 15 minutes, they opted just to scrum repeatedly for 10 minutes to eat up the clock and eventually a penalty try was given. And with that the game was done. We finally managed to chuck the ball around a fair bit in the dying 10 minutes and made some good progress, but an adrenaline filled Ponteland side cut us off from scoring any real points before the full-time whistle went.

A gutting performance from the lads and we look forward to the home fixture with renewed motivation thanks to some poor craic on social media.

Full Time: Novos 9 – 24 Ponteland - well deserved win to Ponteland who were by far the more accurate side on the day.

Training resumes tomorrow at the club and Thursday at Dame Allans. Get there.