Rugby
Barnard Castle ………………22
Sedgefield ……………………… 7
BARNARD Castle took to the field welcoming back Bret Upton for his first start for several years and he made an impressive return in a solid display. They began well and were soon mounting pressure on the Sedgefield try-line.
After 10 minutes, Barney finally gained a reward for their bright start when Ben Parker latched onto a loose ball following a ruck on the Sedgefield 10 metre line and scampered down the blind-side to score the opening try. With Ralph Makepeace landing the tricky conversion Castle led 7-0.
Shortly afterwards Barney were, unfortunately, reduced to 14 men when a scuffle resulted in a red card for the Barney player and a yellow for Sedgefield. Depleted Barney were soon on the scoresheet again, however, when a great break down the left wing saw Luke Cowley offload to Dan Watson who ran in for an excellent try. With the conversion missed Castle led 12-0.
As half-time approached the Barney lead was nearly extended further when a great break by Makepeace saw him brought down just short of the try-line.
The second half began with Castle threatening to extend their lead and they finally got their reward when an excellent jinking run by Upton led to a ruck in midfield, which saw the ball moved quickly down the back-line and Luke Cowley ran in the try. The conversion was missed and Barney’s lead stood at 17-0.
The game had been ill-tempered throughout and after a flurry of cards Castle found themselves reduced to only 12 players for a brief period. During this time Sedgefield scored a try following a scrum close to the Barney line to take the score to 17-7, with the successful conversion.
Barney’s defence was superb during this period as the visitors tried to take advantage of their numerical advantage, but Barney held firm. They even managed to secure the fourth, bonus-point try, when a great run from deep by Miles Brookes saw him offload to Jack Tobbell who dived in at the corner for an outstanding try and the score stood at 22-7 when the referee blew the final whistle.
The opposition nominated Ben Parker as man-of-the match following another excellent, committed display. The club would like to thank match sponsors Sharpsmart for their kind sponsorship of the game.
Next week sees a break and then the following week Barney are away at Houghton. The next home game will be against Ashington on December 9.
Nick Raper
