Westmills Playing Fields, 10th March 2007

Tech chairman John Dove had used his pre-match notes to announce that Tech would be travelling to Bishop Auckland to participate in some “friendly action”. They were wise words as Tech, seemingly intent on not falling foul of the trade descriptions act, turned in a performance in which they took the term “friendly” far too seriously!

Although such matches can often prove to be useless in terms of predicting how games will unfold in the competitive arena, and there were some key players missing for the visitors, this defeat to a club placed mid table in the league beneath them would hardly be described as ideal preparation ahead of a crucial promotion showdown next week.

Certainly Tech’s pack will have to put in a better performance than they did here. For much of the game, Bishop’s forwards dominated the proceedings and frequently made a mess of the Tech scrum with some powerful drives shunting the visiting eight from pillar to post. Tech’s backline was also strangely muted in terms of attack with many players seeming slightly apathetic to what was going on.

The early signs were that Tech would run up a comfortable victory with some good, flowing rugby being produced. A powerful wind, blowing towards the clubhouse, made handling difficult but Tech seemed to be negotiating such hindrances well. Some excellent breaks from midfield nearly resulted in tries for Tech but it wasn’t until the 17^th minute that the men in blue took the lead. A penalty awarded to the Hartlepool club saw Phil Wallis kick to the corner and from the resultant lineout Barry Ward was driven over for the try. Wallis narrowly failed to convert.

Some lovely interplay between Kevin Cook, playing on the wing for the early stages, and his supporting teammates nearly saw the veteran cross but a forward pass in the build up halted the attack. It also saw a halt to Tech’s dominance as from this point on the hosts took a firm grip on the game with some excellent scrummaging putting real pressure on their opposite numbers. The dominance resulted in a penalty on 32 minutes which fly half Richard McNair converted and four minutes later more pressure at the scrum saw the hosts claim their first try. A good break into the Tech 22 was stopped by a knock on but from the scrum, the home eight produced a fine shove, which saw Tech lose control of the ball. Bishop scrum half Andrew Brabban scooped up the loose ball and fed winger Andrew Brown who scampered over. McNair added a good conversion.

Bishop Auckland repeated the trick moments later as another good scrum in the Tech 22 made a mess of the visiting pack and after the subsequent turnover the ball found its way to the other wing where Mark Fairly touched down for another converted score.

17-5 down at half time, there was little to suggest that Tech would pull the game around and 12 minutes into the second period the hosts effectively settled the match with their third try. Poor defence in the midfield allowed Bishop to break through the centre and, having fashioned an overlap, the ball was shipped to lock Rob Morgan who outpaced Chris Williamson to the line. McNair failed with the tricky conversion.

Tech added some respectability to the score line in the closing stages of the contest. Some improved play from the forwards allowed Tech to make some rare progression into the home 22 and this resulted in two late tries for Andrew Thompson and Alex Best. Jon Cole converted the latter and although Tech tried hard till the end a winner was not forthcoming.

Bishop Auckland celebrated their victory whilst Tech trudged off the field. Although the inevitable criticism of the team’s attitude and performance is fully merited a sense of perspective is required from the Wiltshire Way support. A win next week against Novocastrians and no one will care about this leisurely jaunt in the County Durham hills.

Bishop Auckland 22 (17)

Tries: Brown (35), Fairly (40(+2)), Morgan (52)

Cons: McNair (36, 40(+3))

Pen: McNair (32)

Tech 17 (5)

Tries: Ward (17), Thompson (70), Best (80)

Con: Cole (80(+1))

Tech

Scrums 7, Attacking scrums 1, Scrums won on own put in 5, Scrums lost on own put in 2, Pens awarded 15, Kicked at goal 0, Kicked for touch 8, Ran 7, Lines won on own throw 9, Lines lost on own throw 4, Free kicks 0

Bishop Auckland

Scrums 19, Attacking scrums 1, Scrums won on own put in 18, Scrums lost on own put in 1, Pens awarded 9, Kicked at goal 1, Kicked for touch 2, Ran 6, Lines won on own throw 4, Lines lost on own throw 0, Free kicks 0

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