Medicals 0 West 50

By Dave Picken - January 20 2019
Medicals 0 West 50
Luke Mallinson scored a hat trick on his return to the club as we closed the gap on City and Northern to just one point.

We also prevented Medicals from scoring a single point, and in doing so also closed the points difference gap on the two leaders – something which may still prove crucial when the end of season placings are calculated.
There are nine more games to play and 45 more points up for grabs as the title race hots up, but we do seem to be gaining momentum.
The defeat of Northern a week ago set the standard, and the form continued with a changed side in Newcastle. We came up against a home team which tackled well and looked to move the ball at every opportunity, but which lacked the power and precision of the visitors.
After a lively start by both sides it was West who took the game by the scruff of the neck with Peter Youll weaving his way over after skipper Ryan Painter had taken a quick tap penalty.
Zac Southern took over the kicking duties from Stu Waites, who is unwell, and slotted the first of five fine conversions.
He was on the mark again on the quarter hour after left winger Callum Johnston was sent in at the corner – Painter once again the provider from a scrum.
Medicals weren't prepared to buckle under, and would have got on the scorecard just before the half hour but for some superb defending  from Will Hilditch.
Southern’s pass to Adam Coates was intercepted in his own half by stand-off Henry MacGinnis who looked to be going all the way. That was until a dramatic intervention from the speedy Hilditch brought him down just three metres from the line - forcing the home player to spill the ball.
That scare only served to galvanise West into putting on more pressure,which eventually told when a Medicals line-out ball evaded all the jumpers. The lively Scott Butcher collecting at the tail and shrug off the attentions of three defenders to go over and give his side a 21-0 lead at the break.
The four try bonus point was collected soon after the break. Our powerful scrum secured good ball and Hilditch drew the defence to send Mallinson in at the left corner with Southern just wide with his conversion attempt.
We brought on forward replacements Jake Linighan, Joe Rafferty and Craig Hadwen and in their first set-piece they drove the home pack backtowards their line - Butcher accepting the opportunity to touch down and give Southern an easy pot at goal.
The pick of the tries came on 72 minutes with a superb offload from Youll in the tackle sending Hilditch into space on the right. He found Mallinson making an inside run to cruise through a gap.
Southern made it 40-0 with his kick, but hit the post with his next attempt after winger Adam Peacock stepped inside his opposite number to touch down after West had quickly moved a penalty out to the right.
Medicals continued to work hard with their supporters desperate for what would have been a deserved score.
They thought they had it with three minutes left when we were penalised 30 metres out in front of their posts. However, centre Adam Heaps’ kick was wide to the right and collected behind his own line by Youll.
He promptly set off on a powerful run diagonally through the home defence which only ended close to the home 22 when he was finally caught by a desperate defender.
However, we were not to be denied as Medicals gave away a penalty which saw us once again move the ball smartly out wide where Mallinson claimed his hat-trick right on the final whistle.


Medicals: Harry Sagar, Callum Hulme, Patrick Swallow, Adam Heaps, Tom Witter, Henry MacGinnis, Rory McDowell, Richard Clegg, Garry Hodgson, Phil Jones, High Gibbons, Louis Bodrozic, Jon Baird, Will Griffiths, Bilal Mohammed.
Replacements (all used): Richard Cleaver, Max Howie, Dan Kitchen.


West: Luke Mallinson, Callum Johnston, Will Hilditch, Peter Youll, Adam Peacock, Zac Southern, Ryan Painter, Adam Coates, Andrew Rollins, Asam Brown, John Bunter, Chris Atkins, Isaac Robinson, Scott Butcher.
Reps (all used); Jake Linighan, Joe Rafferty, Craig Hadwen.
Tries: Mallinson (3), Butcher (2), Youll, Johnston, Peacock.
Cons: Southern (5)
Referee: Michael Bates (Northumberland).

 

 
Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Official West Hartlepool RFC (IP Logged)
Date: 20/01/2019 11:33


Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: oseander (IP Logged)
Date: 20/01/2019 16:54

Mallinson scored three tries, not a hat-trick

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Hardwick Man (IP Logged)
Date: 20/01/2019 17:12

A trilogy no doubt

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Dave Picken (IP Logged)
Date: 20/01/2019 17:41

Oseander is, of course, quite correct as Luke did not score three consecutive tries. My apologies. However, our second clean sheet away from home deprives Oseander of another opportunity to criticise the tackling - so that’s a bonus.

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Kathryn 😊 (IP Logged)
Date: 20/01/2019 18:11


Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Dave Picken (IP Logged)
Date: 20/01/2019 18:19

A hat trick in cricket is three wickets in consecutive balls but in other sports it is often scoring three goals or three tries etc in a game. I note that Jota scored three non consecutive goals for Leicester which is being described by the BBC as a hat-trick. And as a former leading sports journalist has just reminded me Brian Glanville was happy to use the term for non-consecutive scores.

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: LesterP (IP Logged)
Date: 20/01/2019 21:53

A Trinity of Tries - with it being a Sunday 😐

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Stan the Camel (IP Logged)
Date: 20/01/2019 22:23

You've ruined my Sunday, DP. I've told half of Cairo Mallo scored a hat trick. Doh! I hope somebody will mention it to that fraudster Geoff Hurst who's been fooling us all for over 50 years.

Now - how many goals did we score?

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: LesterP (IP Logged)
Date: 21/01/2019 11:14

" There's some people on the pitch, they think it's all over ......... "

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Rozzy 1 (IP Logged)
Date: 21/01/2019 16:53

Did Mallo get to keep the match ball?

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Dave Picken (IP Logged)
Date: 21/01/2019 17:13

Don’t think Medicals would have been too happy if he’d walked off with it. They probably thought they’d been generous enough

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Stan the Camel (IP Logged)
Date: 22/01/2019 04:50

The Cairo branch of supporters are very unhappy, Dave.

Some suggest there ought to be a hyphen in hat-trick, others suggest simply hat trick.

Mallo has done nothing but cause trouble since his return and if he'd managed to score FOUR tries then we wouldn't now be so bitterly divided!

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Dave Picken (IP Logged)
Date: 22/01/2019 08:29

He was lucky. First game back, hat trick (of whatever flavour) and yet no mucky pint.

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: LesterP (IP Logged)
Date: 22/01/2019 09:01

Our Man in Cairo is quite correct - Mallo's lack of try scoring power since his return has caused a big divide.

I suggest a People's Vote.

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: LesterP (IP Logged)
Date: 22/01/2019 09:10

I think some kind of incentive is needed to dissuade people from scoring hat tricks, hat-tricks and/or tricks of the hat.

Anyone who can score 4 tries, thus securing a BP all on their own, will get a special prize.

I can personally donate a signed box set of " Casbah Chronicles - The Andrew Hainsworth Diaries Vols I,II and IV " to the first player who can achieve this feat.

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: minimoneyman (IP Logged)
Date: 22/01/2019 11:24

Do not create white line fever

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: LesterP (IP Logged)
Date: 22/01/2019 12:57

I think that's more of a Soccer player trend - esp at Arsenal. We should be ok 😉

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Stan the Camel (IP Logged)
Date: 23/01/2019 09:18

I can personally donate a signed box set of " Casbah Chronicles


Be careful what you wish for ...

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: LesterP (IP Logged)
Date: 23/01/2019 16:34

That's a much better off than mine Stan, thank you. For some reason my box set is missing Vol III - "Wadi Wanderer-The Wilderness Years" 😞

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Stan the Camel (IP Logged)
Date: 23/01/2019 18:40

I worked in Gloucester from 1990 - 1995 and I used to help with the Gloucester Primary Schools Football Association. They have an impressive match day programme that I write for occasionally. Stan is known as The Voice of Football.

Oi, Ringo! You owe me a radio

Mark Ring of Cardiff and Wales, Ahmed the Camel Owner of Giza, the mighty Pharaoh Chepren, Michael Davies of Aberystwyth and now Sydney – may a plague of deadly fleas infest your armpits and drive you mad with furious scratching. And while I am in the mood, Master William Webb Ellis isn’t top of my Christmas list either. And Lord Sugar – you’re fired, too.

If you’re here today you must love sport. You probably spend every waking hour either training or playing or watching. Or ferrying your precious angels to the next fixture. I genuinely pity the poor soul who doesn’t enjoy the thrills and spills of locking horns, enjoying a mighty contest then shaking hands and retiring to the clubhouse or pavilion to relive the drama.

The highlight of my time in Gloucester was undoubtedly the double header: overseeing a B Team victory, then a quick hot dog roll from Sandra Hickey (cunningly added to Ken Blackburn’s account) before the honour of running the line for the A team. If that isn’t the morning of kings and queens, then I don’t know what is.

But it all comes at a price. And sometimes paying that price can be a terrible burden.

Let us go back to 1988 when the Voice was living in Cairo. The world was a vastly different place in those days. There was no internet and no satellite television and no mobile phones. To find out how newcastle United had got on, you could tune into the BBC World Service. But to find out how Hartlepool United had got on you had to pay the security guard a modest bakeseesh and sort through all the news on the live teleprinter (a bit like ‘Grandstand’ for older readers.)

When it came to Rugby, it was sheer agony. The only way to listen was via the World Service but where we lived in Heliopolis the reception was really terrible. So when it came to England vs Wales we decided to head out to the Giza plateau and listen to the game in the shadow of the mighty Pyramids.

It was a confusing for the locals. There was my wife, Jane, and I plus Mike Davies and his wife Mair, both Welsh speakers. We set up camp in the shadow of the great Pyramid and enjoyed perfect reception. We refused all efforts to buy souvenirs, took no pictures and then sat listening to a game that nobody from Cairo had ever seen. Unfortunately in those days, England weren’t quite the force they are now and the silky skills of Mark Ring saw Wales ease to victory. England had enjoyed a good run and to lose to Wales, once again, was bitterly disappointing.


At this point Ahmed came over and asked if we wanted a camel ride. I wasn’t in the mood but Ahmed was a decent bloke who spoke good English and I explained my bad mood. Spotting my state-of-the art Amstrad radio he offered me a ridiculously low price for it. I had no intention of selling it but, unwisely, I made a counter offer. The deal was on.

As anybody who has wandered the souks of Morocco or the fabulous bazaar in Istanbul, the Eastern way of life is infinitely more complex world than popping into Asda.

‘I tell you what, my friend. You big man, good looking man, you have big muscles. Why don’t we settle this like men?’ Ahmed played to the gallery.

‘Go on, Andy! Do it for England! Be a man,’ Mike helpfully chipped in.

‘Okay, Andy, my friend. Here is the deal. We arm-wrestle. I am win – you give me the radio for a pound. You are win, you keep radio and you all get free camel ride round all the Pyramids and your beautiful wife, I give her this bracelet. What you lose?’

Let us look at the combatants. In the Egyptian corner was Ahmed weighing in at about seven stone. He was about forty five. Fighting for England and Saint George we had the young Voice, tipping the scales at around thirteen stones and at only twenty four, still in his fighting prime.

It looked a safe bet. Impress my wife, restore national pride and win a free trip around one of the Seven Wonders of the World. A small crowd of Japanese tourists, fellow camel owners and souvenir sellers gathered around us.

I took in the scene. Ahead of me was the largest city in Africa. To my right, the ancient Pyramids and my prized radio. Behind me lay the vast Sahara desert. What a venue for my impending triumph, as we laid on our fronts and gripped each other’s right hands.

Ahmed had probably worked in the family business since he was just a small boy. He was wiry, lean and – I realised rather too late - immensely powerful. He slammed my hand into the dust to cheers from the crowd. Even Mrs. Voice was cheering. (‘Well, he was such lovely bloke,’ she explained later once she’d stopped laughing and I had stopped sulking.)

Helpfully, Mike passed Ahmed the radio and Mair took the pound as I dusted myself down. It had been a miserable day. We jammed ourselves into a taxi and battled our way across the city. In an uncharacteristically generous mood, Mike paid for the taxi but as he fumbled for change he didn’t quite have enough.
‘You got a quid there, Andy?’

Dearest reader. The GPSFA is a family organisation so you’ll have to guess at my reply to Mike.

The Gods of Sport have strange sense of humour. Many years later, Mark Ring came to be Coach at the mighty West Hartlepool RUFC. After a few hours in the clubhouse, I mentioned my bitter loss to Mr. Ring.

Dearest reader. The GPSFA is a family organisation so you’ll have to guess at his reply to the Voice.

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Hardwick Man (IP Logged)
Date: 23/01/2019 19:38

Is this the first chapter of your life story .....or the a full novel.
I want, I need more

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Stan the Camel (IP Logged)
Date: 24/01/2019 08:54

it's just me and Les and our Message Board bromance

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: LesterP (IP Logged)
Date: 24/01/2019 08:57

Agreed-we can do with any amount of this stuff-this is going to be real Dynasty material-better than The Waltons even. We should be making much more of the Clubs International links via yr overseas agents like Stan, especially when it involves the Ancient Worlds. Very Educational.

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: LesterP (IP Logged)
Date: 24/01/2019 09:10

In Bury St Edmunds at present conducting an Inspection. Last night I was talking to an Ex Cambridge Uni chap who played against us at Brierton Lane in the 80s. I actually played in that match but I can remember the exact date - around Easter 84 I think.Anyway he was adamant that there was s joint Team Photo taken before the game but I don't recall seeing one hanging up anywhere.

Any ideas anyone ?

Not in the same league as Stans Illyad but another example of how people remember us.

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: RoverandOut (IP Logged)
Date: 24/01/2019 13:18

Hey up Stan

Have you dumped Horden’s Big Lad then, your old love-in partner or was that Quinny’s old Beau? Can’t remember!

Re: Medicals 0 West 50
Posted by: Stan the Camel (IP Logged)
Date: 24/01/2019 23:07

I think HBL ghosted me - before it was even fashionable!

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