Middlesbrough stepped in with their second string at short notice following the cancellation by Gateshead.

This fixture saw the return of Mike Philo for his seasonal debut following his broken Collar bone in the summer ( Playing Soccer of all games).

He was early into the game with a crunching tackle on the Middlesbrough flanker to set aside any fears of a recurrence.

Redcar started in their customary fashion by conceding a try to Middlesbrough in the early exchanges but soon started to dominate the play. A powerful drive by Luke Junior saw him score from a 5 metre scrum Andy Benbow missed the conversion. There followed a very competetive half with neither side scoring again. Redcar dominated the play with some excellent driving by Captain Joe and Steve Johnson in the tight and good breaks in the backs by Andy B , Sean Jenkinson and Evan Rogers.

The second half continued in the same vein with Middlesbrough's attacks nullified by some excellent cover tackling by Andy B, Callum Pearce and Mike Philo. Whilst the Redcar pack continued to drive the ball forward through the middle.

Andy Benbow went over for a try which he converted and then following a drive by the Forwards Josh Dixon scored the try of the match again converted by Andy B to take Redcar into a 19- 5 lead with onl;y a few minotes to go.

Redcar then did their best to lose the game in the final minutes conceding a try under the posts but there was not enough time for Middlesbrough to come back into the game with Redcar coming out winners 19-12

A man of the match performance by returning flanker Mike Philo

All in all an excellent game played by 2 competitive sides resulting in our first win of the season.

As Luke would say

WERE BACK!!!!



Mick