Bishops check injury-ravaged Barnard Castle Rugby Club

Bishop Auckland 34 Barnard Castle 15

Barnard Castle were aware that they would be in for another tough test in Counties 1 North East as they made the short trip to Bishop Auckland.

And so it proved as the hosts ran out 34-15 winners in a keenly contested encounter.

With skipper Sam Bell injured, his brother Andrew was drafted into the squad for the first time in several years and he would soon make an appearance from the bench.

The visitors raced into an early lead with a couple of well taken tries as Marty Lonsdale and Ben Parker went over from close range.

Trailing 0-12, Bishop were quick to hit back and a spell camped close to the Barney line saw them turn pressure into points with a converted try.

Barney then lost their influential skipper James Peareth and needed to reorganise quickly.

Bishop took advantage with a well worked try by their right winger and ended the first half in the lead at 14-12.

As the second half got underway, Bishop extended their lead as a couple of missed tackles allowed their fly half to dance his way through for the try.

A penalty in front of the posts enabled Bishop to stretch their lead to 24-12 before Castle hit back with a penalty of their own which was converted by Ralph Makepeace.

Barney were still very much in the contest and it seemed as if they were poised to narrow the gap further, but then calamity struck and a clash of heads saw both Oscar Jacques and Eddie Anderson having to leave the field and Castle had to quickly reorganise once again.

There was still a feeling that Barney could get something from the game but then a late scrummage saw the referee award a penalty try to Bishop and a further last-minute penalty gave a somewhat harsh feel to the final scoreline of 34-15.

Bishop deservedly won but Barney could count themselves unfortunate to have experienced the disruption of injuries to key players which impacted on their momentum.

Barnard Castle are at home to Gateshead tomorrow (Saturday, 3pm).

Barnard Castle: 1 Marty Lonsdale (Lifestyle Logistics), 2 Danny Souter (Hughes family), 3 James Peareth (Peareth Financial), 4 Jon Lucas (Jan Thompson), 5 Jack Worley (Bambi & Jayne), 6 Joe Gibbons (S Patterson & M Coates), 7 Ben Parker (Potts Groundworks), 8 Eddie Anderson (JR&B Anderson & Son), 9 Reggie Langton (BK Robson Dry Stone Walling), 10 Ralph Makepeace (D Souter Farrier Services),11 Robbie Lavin (C&J Marshall), 12 Elijah Delaidriti (S&RD Parker), 13 Matthew Osborne Roman Ltd), 14 Harry Parker (Fox & Hounds, Cotherstone), 15 Oscar Jacques (Beauty Therapy Clinic), 16 Andrew Bell, 17 Sam Watson (The Autobarn), 18 Tom Steen (Pulse Accountants).