Stockton 40 Winlaton Vulcans 3

Winlaton travelled to Newton Aycliffe with only 13 players for this friendly fixture, with several regulars away in Spain and the 1st team again subjected to last minute cry-offs it left the squad very short.

Two debutants were in action, both playing their first games of senior rugby, Dave Clark played at inside centre and Lee Hutton took up a berth in the second row. Newton Aycliffe kindly lent the Vulcans 2 backs so the sides were even. Several players played out of position so to fill the team sheet with veteran lock and former Club Captain Sean Kelly playing at No 8, a position he hadn’t played since colts and stand in skipper Les Cash normally a prop having to play at blindside flanker.

From the kick off Newton had the advantage of a very strong wind and made good use of it, the home backs were young and quick and their willingness to run, offer angles and offload in the tackle made the visitors struggle.

It didn’t take long for home winger Gibson to streak away to open the scoring, it was quickly added to by a score in the corner from Newman, in a very short space of time the Vulcans were 14-0 down. Further excellent handling in the backs saw Cochrane score under the posts and he added another score to leave the score 26-0.

Matters were made worse on 25 minutes when the visitors were reduced to 14 men because of injury, Old Father Time is finally catching up with Trevor Murdie and at 53 years old his hamstrings could hold out no longer. Winlaton were however having some success, especially in the forwards and set pieces, Newton were constantly under pressure and even with a 7 man scrum the Vulcans managed to win 2 scrums against the head. A kick to the corner from a penalty nearly produced a score at the end of the half for Winlaton but after a superb catch and drive with the line beckoning Sam McArdle in his efforts to move the maul open accidentally drove into his own man. The half ended 26-0 to the hosts.

The second half started much as the first had ended with a flowing move from the home side with only a forward pass preventing another score. From then on it was all Winlaton, using the wind and their dominance in the forwards to keep the home side pinned in their half. Abandoning the tactic of trying to take them on in the backs the visitors started to attack them through the forwards, running just off the rucks and mauls and attacking them around the fringes produced big gains and the home pack were tiring.

A break from the home 10 metre line produced a score when a good dart from debutant Clark was halted a quick ruck and feed from Wharton to Wilcox saw Les Cash break through the line and make 20 metres before offloading to Merritt who was tackled 5 metres out another quick ruck and Alex Tulip received the ball from Wharton to dive over in the corner. 26-5

Several big breaks were made by the forwards who were now finding holes and offloading but some excellent last ditch tackling was thwarting their efforts. Another score was added 10 mins from time when Kelly touched down, but try as they may Winlaton couldn’t close the gap. Final score 26-10.

As per the previous week a poor 1st half followed by a dominant 2nd half was the order of the day but after being able to only field such a scratch side the result and performance were excellent under such circumstances.

The squad will be bolstered this week by quite a few returning players and should provide a sterner test for the visitors Sunderland 3rds in a Durham Junior League game.

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http://winlatonvulcansrfc.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album09

Both clubs were able to field strong sides due to the fact that neither club had 1st XV fixtures with it being a league free weekend.

Houghton and Winlaton started with true 2nd team players starting and a sprinkling of 1st team members starting or lining up on the bench and in the spirit of the game both Captains allowed rolling substitutes to make sure all players got good game time under their belts.

This was a funny game as both sides enjoyed periods of dominance which allowed for a quick and attractive game with plenty of opportunities, Winlaton took the lead through some good forward play which set up skipper Kevin Scott for the opening try when the big number 8 crashed over from short range and Micky Wharton converted the kick. 0-7

The lead was extended twice when Houghton’s eagerness at the ruck was penalised and Wharton again punished the home team with two quick penalties to extend the advantage to 0-13. The game came alive at the end of the half when Houghton were pinned into their own 22 and had a lineout in a dangerous position. A set move was planned to perfection and a throw to the front was immediately popped back blind for the home scrum half to race 70 metres unopposed to score under the posts, Valentine converting. 7-13.
This prompted some endeavour from the home side who reduced the deficit through a further Valentine penalty to leave the half time score at 10-13.

Houghton took control in the 1st 20 minutes of the second half and scored 2 good tries from flanker McBernie and Valentine who converted both giving them a 24 -13 lead. The game then changed again when despite being down to 14 men when Fly Half Wilcox was sin binned Winlaton proceeded to dominate both territory and possession. Some excellent defence from the home side and some less than excellent refereeing kept the response down to one converted try from scrum half Micky Wharton for a final score of 24-20. But both sides left the field knowing they had enjoyed a close and competitive game.

Winlaton Vulcans celebrated a win against long time rivals Rockcliffe, both sides were unable to field full strength line ups but true to form it turned out to be an unattractive midtable battle that hardly set the hearts racing.

Hopes were high that an entertaining game would take place as the club had over 70 former players as guests for the day and a good game was needed to set the festivities on the way. Winlaton started the game playing up the hill and most of the game was played in between the two 22’s with little to set the hearts racing. The only moment of note in the first half was when the referee allowed a penalty kick by the home No 10 to be charged down conversion style and didn’t allow it to be retaken, as the kick was relatively in front of the posts and 20 metres out it denied Gary Allison the opportunity to open the scoring and the half ended 0-0. It did however offer a moment of humour from both sets of supporters and the usual regailing of ‘it never happened in our day’ from the assembled throng of former players.

The second half could not have been so bad and with the Vulcans having the advantage of the hill in the second half most supporters were expecting a home win. So unsurpisingly Rockcliffe took the lead when an infringement on the floor gave them the chance of 3 pts which they took, 0-3.

Winlaton responded almost immediately with a levelling kick from a similar offence and then took the lead when Fly Half Gary Allison, who has had to move back to the No10 berth from Hooker to replace his younger brother, scored a crash over try which he duly converted.

Both sides made changes but the Rockcliffe pack were seriously outgunned and struggled to win any ball of note, after losing a series of scrums Winlaton spun the ball wide and after a miss move Gary Allison looped round to appear on the wing and finish the move by diving over in the corner and then hit a superb conversion from the touchline to seal a 17 – 3 win.

Not that the day did not contain its anxious moments. When the coach transporting them from the North East picked up a puncture en route through Yorkshire, the two-hour delay threatened to wreck their plans.
Fortunately, an early start and a later kick-off allowed them just enough time to make their appointment on the hallowed turf, but there was some hurried changing and scampering legs just to get onto the pitch and be in place to form the traditional Guard of Honour for the two senior sides.
“It was a bit frantic,” said Durham RDO Matt Bryan: “Word obviously got out about out plight and we found ourselves on 5 Live on our way to the ground, but we made it in the end – by a whisker!
“The main thing is that the kids and the teachers and club coaches who came with them had a great day out which lived up to all expectations. It turned out to be a 19-hour day from start to finish, but it was an adventure I know will live long in the memories of all involved.”
The stadium also provided a superb backdrop for the presentation of the Seal of Approval to the club by Bryan, who has watched all the hard work that has been put into getting to the high standards of organisation needed to get the certificate.
“The Seal of Approval has involved a lot of hard work and commitment,” says Bryan. “As everyone who has gained it knows, it is not easy to achieve and it really does underline that a club has worked hard to put the highest standards in place in terms of looking after young people.
“But the success story at the Vulcans extends beyond the kids. They were involved in the Go Play Rugby campaign launched on the back of the World Cup and as a result they have recruited 10 new adult players. This has meant that instead of being a club with one senior team and an occasional second team, they are now running two sides comfortably.”
All of which meant that there was one group of Englishmen with a smile on their faces after the England-Wales disappointment.

B Peters-Jones
R Spoors
G. Hendry
D. Scott
M. Lynn
M. Wharton
G. Murdie
M. Lee
D. Walker
H. Webster
S McArdle
A Merritt
C Coates
A Tulip
D. Middleton
A Gowling
K Cash
L Cash
L Dixon
S Kelly
S Thompson
A Shield

P Burr
I Fleming
A Horsfall
T Albassam
J Reddihough
N Stevenson
G Allison
G Clarkson
S Macleod
S Scullion
M. Bly
A Moore
S Urwin
K Scott
M. Bowles
S Harrison
B Morns
D Hunter
A Robinson

Winlaton were able to field a strong side and had a healthy bench from which they were able to lend the opposition, club stalwart Harvey Webster to bolster their front row.

Due to the inclement weather the game was played on the less used 3rd team pitch which was in beautiful condition and lent itself to what was to be a highly entertaining game played with plenty of skill and a lot of free running.

Winlaton received the kick off and using their undoubted size advantage in the pack began to boss things up front, but as is the usual way didn’t make their superiority count and when the defence turned over the ball it released what was a young and fast set of Aycliffe backs the fly half kicked up the field but the home full back threw a pass that was intercepted for the visitors to score. 0-7

This woke up the home side who replied almost immediately with a score of their own when Chris Coates touched down from a catch and drive to take Winlaton to 5-7. This was short-lived as the opposition again set their backs away that were being well marshalled by the young fly half. From a scrum and quick maul he put in a lovely chip which was caught on the full by the outside centre who sped away to out strip the covering defenders and score. 5-12

At this point it looked daunting for the home side who were struggling to combat the fast and fluid game the visitors were playing, the one drawback for Aycliffe was their constant infringement at the contact area and this prompted the referee, who had been appointed for the cancelled 1st XV cup game vs. Hartlepool, to sin bin one Harvey Webster when he dived through a ruck and picked the ball up.

Being down to 14 men to its toll, from the resulting penalty Micky Wharton reduced the deficit to 4 points by scoring. 8-12 and straight from the kick off Winlaton manoeuvred themselves up field and scored a try from Prop Ash Merritt to take the half time score to 13-12.

The 2nd half was end to end, when back to full strength Aycliffe caused the Vulcans no end of problems and scored 2 tries in quick succession, one a beauty going 60 yards with some excellent hands to score. Winlaton found themselves 2 scores down at 12-23 and some changes were made.

Winlaton then worked hard to get back in the game, by now some very direct and aggressive running from Barry Morns, Dave Hunter and Aaron Gowling was beginning to take it’s toll and the they were regularly finding yards through the middle. One such run set up a score for Hooker Sam McArdle who scored and then Ian Fleming popped over to score with the conversion to give the home side a 1 point lead 24-23. Aycliffe sensing a defeat set off again to conjure up a score from nothing, touching down in the corner to retake the lead, ironically if they had a pack to go with their outstanding young backs they would be a very formidable side.

Not to be outdone the home side mustered one last attack in the dying minutes and when a try was scored from an attacking penalty the result went to the Vulcans by the narrowest of margins.

Winlaton 29 – 28 Newton Aycliffe

Side; Graham Murdie (Ian Fleming), Dan Walker, Ben Peters-Jones (Tony Horsfall), David Scott, Matt Lee, Chris Wilcox, Micky Wharton, Ash Merritt (Butch Adams), Sam McArdle, Alex Tulip, Aaron Gowling (George Hendry), Chris Coates, Dave Hunter, Barry Morns, Kev Scott (capt).

View the photo's from the game here....http://winlatonvulcansrfc.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album07