The conditions did not affect the visitors Whitby as their home ground is equally as exposed to the North Sea elements. This was a double header as Whitby also brought their second team.
Seaton have had a difficult first half of the season, currently bottom of N&D two. The cause of this situation seems to have mainly been due to unavailability of a large number of players. Since then the availability situation has improved and they have a win and a narrow loss since the turn of the year.
For today's two matches they had forty players available which included a fifty five year old in the first team and a fifty seven year old in the second team.
The first team match was a very close affair. With seventy minutes played the scores were level at 5 – 5. Whitby were awarded a penalty five metres inside their own half which the full back converted to make the score 5 – 8. On seventy five minutes another long range penalty made the score 5 – 11.
Seaton looked to be heading for a well-earned loosing bonus point, but with the last play of the match Whitby scored a converted try to make the final score 5 – 18.
Seaton gained some consolation with the second team having a good 41- 10 victory over Whitby seconds.
Mention must be made of the two referees. Kevin Bond contributed greatly to an excellent compensative first match with a fine performance. The second team match was refereed by 18 year old Lewis Tucker who won praise from all concerned for his handling of the match. As he gains more experience I would expect to see this young man progress to much higher things.
In recent years the Seaton changing and playing facilities have been up graded, now thanks to a legacy from a Seaton Carew member they are looking to extend and modernise the club house.
Although the defeat by Whitby makes it very likely that Seaton will be relegated the feeling within the club is that they are in a re building process and the future for the club is bright.