With Alan Moses’ big boot and the wind advantage West could have expected to face an opening half pinned in their own 22 but they battled hard and some outstanding defence helped win plenty of turnover ball for the backs to use. When conditions turned for the worse and handling became virtually impossible they used the forward pack well and two pushover tries from scrum and maul ensured the final two league points on offer at Brinkburn this season would stay at the Catcote Road club.

For Alnwick it will be a nail-biting finish. They did well in patches of this game but became very predictable in attack and allowed the West defence to snuff out any threat posed. Next week they will have to beat Stockton at home and hope Percy Park don’t beat Driffield to have any chance of remaining in this division.

The game had started in relatively pleasant conditions. Moses missed an early penalty goal but made amends with a terrific strike from all of 45 metres which bounced off the crossbar but nevertheless gave his side the lead with 12 minutes gone. West responded well and looking to run at every opportunity created some useful openings. When a poor pass landed in Chris Lambert’s hands it looked as though little was on but the speedy 18 year-old somehow rounded his opponent and sped away untouched to score a remarkable try. It has been some run of performances from Lambert who has impressed everyone since breaking into the first team at the beginning of the year. And the stats speak for themselves 10 tries in the 10 games he has played since the Boxing Day game at Rovers.
The wind gave Moss no chance with the conversion but the hosts had the lead at 5-3.

Alnwick struggled to make significant inroads with the ball in hand as time after time tremendous tackling knocked the ball carrier back and forced errors. A 23rd minute penalty restored their lead but other than a drop goal attempt skewed well wide a few minutes later there was little to threaten the scoreboard.

With first half time ticking down West were far the happier, having kept the lead to just a point with conditions now terrible and the wind as strong as ever. But when Danny Weegram was sin-binned after a collision with Chris Kirtley it was a chink of light for the visitors, knowing they’d be facing only 14 men for the first part of the second half.

The advantage didn’t last the full ten minutes though. West came out with the right tactics and Moss used his boot to move play inside the Alnwick half. A couple of rolling mauls were causing all kinds of problems and eventually the referee tired of players killing the momentum and despatched second row James Fernback to the bin. West immediately took advantage with a kick to the corner and an unstoppable maul, Sawyer touching down in the corner.

Things went from bad to worse for Alnwick straight from the restart. An off the ball incident saw a further player given a ten-minute rest and left us temporarily with 14 against 13! West needed to take advantage and did so with another Sawyer score this time from a 5 metre scrum which powered over the line and was very well controlled at the base by the number eight who has been in superb form in the latter part of the season. Moss was unlucky with the conversion but it seemed to be the try which would seal the game as Alnwick hadn’t looked like getting a try in the first half let alone when playing into the elements.

With both sides restored to 15 players it became a scrappy affair. The hail, snow and rain meant mistakes were aplenty and a Moss penalty on 68 minutes aside, neither side really looked like adding to their tally.

Unfortunately for West a few injuries were picked up late on, with Moss in particular looking quite badly hurt. With substitutes already used Mark Cholmondeley replaced the fly-half. Fortunately for Alnwick he wasn’t unleashed in the backline, instead packing down in the second row with Dan Boatman having to spend another few minutes out on the wing!


West: Todd (Thomas), Lambert, Edwards, Hodgson, Weegram, Moss (Cholmondeley), Tighe, Carr, Cullinane, Robinson, Rudd (Garside), Henderson, D Boatman, Tones, Sawyer

Tries: Lambert, Sawyer 2
Pen: Moss

Alnwick: Kirtley, Hutchinson, Wilson, Kirkup, Shell, Moses, Grahamslaw, Milburn, Hodgson, Armstrong, Lamb, Fernback, Currie, Strother, Dunlop
Subs: Gray, Smith, Allen

Pens: Moses 2

Referee: Richard Whelan [Yorkshire Society]