Saturday, 24th March 2007, Axwell View
Anyone hoping that the break from league action would allow Tech to express themselves more freely against their Durham & Northumberland 2 rivals was to end up thoroughly disappointed. In line with their none performance in the friendly match with Bishop Auckland a fortnight ago Tech turned in another feeble display to exit the Durham Junior Cup at the first hurdle. Against a team who they disposed of 37-3 at the beginning of February, Tech proceeded to gift wrap their hosts two tries and play more than a significant part in the third as they limped out of the competition with barely a whimper.
Although Winlaton again proved to be fiercely competitive up front, they were hardly what you would describe as inspiring behind the pack. Outside centre Mothersdale was a handy player with some powerful running always attracting the attention of the Tech defence. But aside from this there was little to suggest that this was a team capable of running in three tries and Tech should really have stayed in contention of this game till the end.
That they didn’t was entirely their own doing as Winlaton took full advantage of some careless Tech mistakes. Their first try came after 7 minutes. Good play from the hosts had seen them advance into the Tech 22 where a knock on halted their progress. Tech did well to secure possession following a mighty scrum from the home eight and it seemed they would relieve the pressure with a kick. But Phil Wallis, hero from last week, saw his kick charged down by the onrushing defence and Luke Mitchell pounced by the posts to score. Allison converted.
Tech regrouped and began to play some good rugby. With the forwards starting to compete with the powerful home pack Tech started to make progress into the Winlaton half.
But just when it seemed that Tech would work their way back into the game, the visitors shot themselves in the foot with Nick Corrigan being involved in an ultimately forgettable moment. Having been turned over in the Winlaton half the hosts chipped the ball ahead towards the Tech 22 where Corrigan gathered the ball. Having been tackled the centre tried to offload the ball and succeeded in finding the arms of Mitchell who raced home for his second try. Allison added an excellent touchline conversion.
Tech pulled three points back when Wallis converted a 23rd minute penalty and this precipitated Tech’s most promising phase of the half and following a good break from Dave Cheshire, Tech really should have scored their first try of the afternoon. But a combination of poor finishing and good defence saw them denied.
If this gave Tech some optimism about overturning their 14-3 deficit Winlaton quashed such a notion by adding their third try 15 minutes into the second half. Some clumsy handling close to their own line gave the hosts an attacking scrum. The ball was shipped out to Mothersdale and having gone close on a couple of occasions in the first half, the outside centre finally got his reward as he crashed over for the try. Allison again converted and Tech’s fate was sealed.
Winlaton Vulcans 21 (14)
Tries: Mitchell (7, 20), Mothersdale (55)
Cons: Allison (7, 20, 55)
Tech 3 (3)
Pen: Wallis (23)
Scoring sequence (Winlaton listed first):
5-0 (T), 7-0 (C), 12-0 (T), 14-0 (C), 14-3 (P) HT 19-3 (T), 21-3 (C)
Winlaton Vulcans
K Allison, Reddihough, Mothersdale, Mitchell, Fleming, Albassam, Wharton; Urwin, G Allison, Moore, Shield, Page, Macleod, Scullion, Robinson
Scrums 13, Attacking scrums 3, Scrums won on own put in 11, Scrums lost on own put in 2, Pens awarded 3, Kicked at goal 0, Kicked for touch 2, Ran 1, Lines won on own throw 4, Lines lost on own throw 3, Free kicks 0
Tech
Parker, Brown, Donnelly, Corrigan, Bulmer, Wallis, Cheshire; Cameron, Best, Pinchen, Wray, Thompson, Dove, Hamilton, Howard. Subs: Williamson, Stockdale, Smart (all used)
Scrums 13, Attacking scrums 3, Scrums won on own put in 10, Scrums lost on own put in 3, Pens awarded 10, Kicked at goal 2 (1 miss), Kicked for touch 8, Ran 0, Lines won on own throw 11, Lines lost on own throw 6, Free kicks 2
Referee: Ken Hudson (Durham)