There have been several changes at Tech during the off season but one feature that appears to have remained firmly in place is an inability to convert pressure into points. Billingham will have been only too delighted to discover this as they opened up their campaign with a gritty victory in what was a frustrating yet compelling match the home team being left to rue several missed opportunities to keep the game alive until the end.

Billingham have proved to be a handful for the Hartlepool club in recent years and right from the kick off the signs were that the Teessiders were in no mood to allow this trend to stop. They ploughed into the Tech 22 from the word go and although some spirited defence kept the white and green shirts at bay initially, further good work from the forwards, coupled with some nice hands in the backs eventually saw outside centre Stewart go over near the posts. Durnion added the extras.

The visiting pack continued to dominate the early exchanges making it difficult for Tech to gain any real possession and it came as no surprise when Durnion was given an opportunity to extend his team’s lead on 9 minutes. Fortunately for the home team his kick sailed well wide of the posts and following this Tech enjoyed a fine period of resurgence and began to take the game to their opponents. A penalty conceded just outside the Billingham 22 gave the home team their first real opportunity of the match and much to the delight of the home support they took it in fine style. The penalty was kicked to touch and from the line a good maul was set up. Stockdale then broke impressively from the back and smashed his way from all of 15 meters to the Billingham line for the score. Cole could not improve the effort but at 7-5 Tech were back in the game.

Stockdale proved to be the next name on the stat sheet again on 34 minutes albeit this time for an honour of slightly less merit. Following a breakdown in open play Tech were penalised. Stockdale took this opportunity to give referee Andy Baker his take on the event. Baker then decided that now would be a good time for Tech’s burly number 8 to take a breather and duly binned him for dissent. With a 1 man advantage Billingham tried their hardest to take advantage but some excellent defence kept their attacks at bay. It seemed Tech would reach the halfway mark with minimal damage following the binning but on 40 minutes prop Adam Howard was also given 10 minutes in the cooler following a retaliatory punch at a ruck. A 2 man advantage is not to be wasted in Rugby and from the subsequent lineout, Billingham easily overpowered their opponents diminished pack and number 8 Durnion was on hand to collect the pushover try. Their was still time though for Cole to reduce the deficit to 12-8 with a penalty.

Tech then began the second half as Billingham had began the first and were immediately rewarded with a penalty which Cole converted this to make the score 12-11. But no sooner had Tech put the result of the game back on the bargaining table a combination of poor tackling and good play from Billingham saw the visitors burst upfield and score. Fullback Evans, who was a handful throughout for the home team was on the end of the move and although Durnion missed the conversion he added a penalty only 6 minutes later to take Billingham into a 20-11 lead.

Then came the most obvious example of Tech’s lack of bite. Straight from the restart Tech tore back into the visitors and following some good work from the forwards, were awarded a penalty. The kick to the corner seemed fair enough, after all it had worked in the first half. But for all they tried, Tech simply could not get over the Billingham line. Stockdale came close to grabbing his second of the afternoon but close was as good as it got. After nigh on 10 minutes of frantic driving Tech were given another penalty. 3 points would have been the better option one felt but Tech refused to take this approach and subsequently paid when Billingham eventually managed to clear their lines. Deflated by this Tech lost their shape and Billingham closed down the game for the victory.

So an opening day defeat for the men in blue but despite this, there were a number of positives to take from the game. The team that took to the field for the game was much changed to the one that played in the final game of last season at Acklam. Against one of the more capable teams in the league, one could have been forgiven for predicting a handsome win for Billingham. That this didn’t materialise is encouraging. Also, Tech’s line out and scrum looked solid enough to suggest that if the hard work is applied, Tech will be able to generate good possession against other teams in this league. All eyes now turn to next week’s derby with Horden. A game that is sure to provide Tech’s new team with more than a serious workout.

Tech 11

Try: Stockdale (19)

Pens: Cole (40, 41)

Billingham 20

Tries: Stewart (6), Durnion (40), Evans (46)

Con: Durnion (6)

Pen: Durnion (52)

Tech

Knight, Cole, Jones (c), Dickinson, Bulmer, Cheshire, Williamson, Thompson (Dove), Dixon, Howard, Jukes, Vincent (Hunter), Smart, Scott (Brown), Stockdale

Scrums 11, Attacking scrums 2, Scrums won on own put in 9, Scrums lost on own put in 2 (0 against head), Pens awarded 15, Kicked for goal 2, Kicked for touch 9, Ran 3, Scrum 1, Lines won on own throw 13, Lines lost on own throw 1

Sin Bin: Stockdale (34), Howard (40)

Billingham

Evans, Shepherd (Bates), Stewart, Ker, Evans, Evans, Woodhouse, Finney, Amos, Robinson (Youdale), Dalton (M Ker), Tennant, Kawa-Kameni, Hutchison, Durnion

Scrums 8, Attacking scrums 4, Scrums won on own put in 5, Scrums lost on own put in 3 (1 against head), Pens awarded 8, Kicked for goal 3 (2 misses), Kicked for touch 5, Lines won on own throw 11, Lines lost on own throw 3

Referee: Andy Baker (Yorkshire)