NURL 1sts -30
Leeds 1sts – 10
A morbid sky greeted the Leeds team and pathetic fallacy was ready to dance its cruel jig over the corpse of the lacklustre Yorkshire team.
The match started with Neil Barrett shoeing the ball deep into Leeds territory and there it remained as a fierce NURL defence line coaxed mistakes from the opposition. Newcastle found an opening early on when some def offloading allowed Michael Ward enough space to beat three markers for the opening Try.
A Robust defence was led with brutal tackling from Michael Bryan and the pressured Leeds team were again left loitering under their sticks when bruiser Andy Stanton biffed over 4 defenders for the second score. Newcastle maintained their imposing intensity but conceded after a dog-like boy in a Leeds shirt managed to make the break for an impressive 40 metre try. Buoyed by the try and some lackadaisical offloading the Loiners managed some good defensive work around the ruck before Newcastle could re-assert their ascendancy. Rob Munday closed the stanza with a spatula pass to Paul Wood who ran a curve as if on the cusp of a vortex beating 3 players over 60m before returning the ball to the rampaging loose forward.
Powerful and dependable running from Paul Wood
Leeds managed to start the 2nd half with a try after NURL crabber Wood was sin-binned for lashing out when his opposite number allegedly called him a “turkey”. Nurl responded to the ten-minute penalty in the best possible way casting the ball out wide and catching two whoppers with fresher Liam Mcgee crossing for his first and Munday touching down for an impressive brace. With the frenzied support of the AU president NURL restored their defensive dominance with firebrand prop Chris Blain leading the entire front row shoulder first into a hapless Leeds forwards sternum. The 400kg tackle fired the backs up enough to see out the match with two more scores, the best of which saw Rick Davison smash over with some impressive handling after a Ward offload.
Despite carrying surplus off-season weight Captain Ed Ainscoe led from the front and was proud of the “encouraging bash out”. This reporter agrees, The lads at Cochrane park will need a JCB to rid the pitch of champagne corks if NURL keep this up.