Saturday, 6th January 2007, Plessey Road
On the off chance that representatives of Guisborough, Yarm and Blyth rugby clubs should ever meet up for an evening to discuss this season’s proceedings, chances are they would have plenty to talk about regarding theft and West Hartlepool TDSOB RUFC!
In similar vein to both Guisborough and Yarm, Blyth became the third club this season to be stung by Tech’s utter refusal to accept defeat as Jon Cole’s injury time penalty inflicted the cruellest of reverses on the Northumberland club, the defeat meaning that they remain second from bottom behind Seaton Carew. The eerie silence that descended on Pressey Road as Cole’s penalty bisected the posts, save for Tech’s delirious support, told it’s own story.
The victory moves Tech up to second in the league. Whilst more capable teams than Blyth may have made Tech pay on Saturday, the character of the team in the closing stages of the match was once again nothing short of superb. Where Tech might have lost such a game at the start of the season it now seems almost inevitable that Tech will prevail come close games.
Player/coach Michael Parker was quick to praise his team but also issued a word of caution ahead of the more testing games to come. “Once again I have to hand it to the lads for playing till the end. The first game after Christmas is out of the way and we have a win but we’ll have to play better in games to come. There are other teams in this league who wouldn’t have let their lead slip so late into the game”.
The hosts dominated the opening quarter and it came as no surprise when they opened the scoring after 9 minutes. Some good play by the Blyth pack had caused Tech to infringe at the breakdown on a couple of occasions. One such penalty allowed fly half Barry Smith to kick deep into the Tech half and after a ruck was established near the 22, some good passing down the wing eventually saw hooker Barrat collect the ball to dart over. Barry Smith failed to convert.
The boggy conditions were making handling difficult for both teams with dropped passes all to frequent in the opening stages. Barry Smith’s willingness to kick appeared to be the best tactic as Tech struggled to make any kind of impression on the game. But, despite the clumsy opening, Tech slowly began to find their rhythm. Wilson pulled a penalty attempt wide on 16 minutes and a lovely break from Chris Williamson very nearly resulted in a try for Andrew Thompson. The pressure was mounting and, on 32 minutes, Richard Foster, who had tormented Blyth at Grayfields with some powerful running, opened the visitors account with a scintillating try. A Blyth knock on presented Tech with a scrum on half way. Williamson’s pass was well taken by Wilson who in turn fed Foster with a lovely miss pass. Foster’s speed did the rest as the wing powered past two defenders before breezing round full back Hall for a try under the posts. Wilson converted.
Tech wasted a golden opportunity to add to their tally moments later after a fine break by Corrigan had generated an attacking, five-metre scrum for his team. Tech, however, made a hash of the scrum and were made to pay for their carelessness four minutes into injury time when Smith made amends for his earlier miss with a penalty to put Blyth back in front at 8-7.
Frustrated with the late penalty, Tech began the second half well. More good work from Foster nearly fashioned a try for Best after 46 minutes but fine defence from Blyth saw the flanker dragged into touch. But the early momentum was to prove key as Tech re-established the lead on 51 minutes. After Blyth had secured possession from a line out, Andrew Thompson applied excellent pressure to Barry Smith who was forced to offload to earlier try scorer Barrat. Hero turned villain as the onrushing Chris Williamson charged his attempted clearance down and recovered go over under the posts. Jon Cole, on for the injured Ian Wilson, improved for 14-8.
Blyth upped a gear in the wake of this set back and quickly restored pressure on their visitors with more clever kicking keeping Tech pinned in their half, one such kick resulting in a lineout five metres out. Here Blyth exploited their opponent’s weak lineout to set up a ruck on the Tech goal line. From this platform scrum half Walker picked up and darted over in the corner for an unconverted try leaving Tech ahead by a single point.
With tension rising the game endured an ugly moment on 65 minutes with Chris Williamson being severely studded at a ruck. The game was held up for 13 minutes and after Williamson was stretchered off, clearly in some discomfort, referee James McQuillin, somewhat controversially, only issued a yellow card to Kirkup, the guilty player. Paul Dove was also binned for offering some uncomplimentary views on both the referee’s decision and the Blyth second row.
Clearly affected by the incident Tech lost some of their composure and a series of penalties allowed the hosts to make their way into the Tech 22. Here some good scrummaging saw them awarded a penalty. With the clock showing 79 minutes Barry Smith converted. Surely this would be Blyth’s afternoon?
No chance. Knowing that there was still time left due to their team-mate’s injury, Tech threw everything they had at the tiring Blyth defence. Then in the 12th minute of added time Tech were awarded a penalty far out on the left touchline, 20 metres from the goal line. Jon Cole placed the ball on the tee and confidently strode up to the mark. The rest, as they say, is history.
Blyth 16 (8)
Tries: B Barrat (9), Walker (60)
Pens: B Smith (40 (+4), 79)
Tech 17 (7)
Tries: Foster (32), Williamson (51)
Cons: Wilson (32), Cole (51)
Pen: Cole (80 (+12))
Scoring sequence (Blyth listed first):
5-0 (T) 5-5(T) 5-7 (C) 8-7 (P) HT 8-12 (T) 8-14 (C) 13-14 (T) 16-14 (P) 16-17 (P)
Blyth
Hall, Sinton, Robinson, Pattison, Bostock, B Smith, Walker; Henderson, B Barrat, J Smith, Fraser, Beech, Sparks, K Barrat, Dunwoody. Subs: Stephenson, Kirkup, Sutherland (all used)
Sin Bin: Kirkup (65)
Tech
Cole, Foster, Donnelly, Corrigan, Bulmer, Wilson, Williamson; Dove, Hamilton, Palmer, Thompson, Howard, Brown, Best, Stockdale. Subs: Cheshire, Parker, Pinchen (all used)
Sin Bin: Dove (65)
Referee: James McQuillin (Northumberland)