NURL 1sts – 20
Leeds Met 2nds – 20
Cochrane Park
Rugby League giants New Zealand and Australia were recently left deadlocked on 20 points after a spectacular opening to the Gillette Four Nations. In a slightly more attritional affair SRL Northern Premier heavyweights Newcastle and Leeds Met shared the spoils with an identical score-line last Wednesday .
The crowds were out in force to watch NURL’s first home outing and numbers were bolstered when the 2nd team’s fixture was cancelled due to Sunderland’s understandable cowardice in taking on Daves Parker, Kernohan, Mathew and Chatterton. The fans were in a joyous, expectant mood and renditions of classic NURL songs ”Sammy Boyd has magic spectacles” and ”Moorcrofts gonna mulch ya” were echoing round the Owl’s Nest as the teams entered the fray.
The first five minutes saw an evenly matched but penalty-laden contest, Leeds Met are notorious for producing well-drilled highly athletic sides and the pace was above what the Royals had experienced so far this season. As Newcastle adapted to the increased tempo Leeds began to dominate the early exchanges and were first on the scoreboard after a succession of quick play-the-balls allowed their Winger to cross the whitewash untouched.
It didn’t take long for Newcastle to respond in kind when Wide-man Kevin Davey capitalised on some effective running from Sam Boyd and Miles Hudson. Rob Seagraves converted from the flank but disaster struck when the livewire hooker also known as the Preston Poodle sustained a match-ending arm injury in the next set. The subsequent reshuffling saw crowd favorite Sumptuous Ste Moorcroft move to scrum half and Falklands veteran Rishi Sumra deputising for Seagraves at Dummy Half.
The Blue Wall Marches onwards
NURL’s attacking flow was somewhat destabalised by the changes but strong defense led by captain Michael Ward ensured the contest remained tight with both teams scoring once more before the interval.
The opening period of the second stanza was dominated by Leeds Met who attacked ferociously and quickly scored 2 tries. NURL continued to find difficulty in putting together some cohesive attacking play and the lack of communication across the park seemed to limit finest Novocastrian attacking system since Baron Armstrong shut his Tyneside Armaments. Thus Newcastle had to rely on individual brilliance to stay in contention and no contributions were more valuable then that of props Joe ‘Deadlift’ Robinson and Daniel Caparros-Midwood. The hefty pair seemed to be on a two-man destruction mission with wrecking ball Midwood barn-storming in attack and thumping defense from Ginger haired Robinson.
With a quarter to go Newcastle finally began to assail the Leeds score line with Liam Mcgee’s deft passing leading to a try from Ward after some well timed angular running. An exhausted looking James Phillips then completed his brace and leveled the contest after racing 60 yards following an interception forced after some fine work from debutant Michael Bean.
With the scores tied the last few minutes were extremely tense and NURL nearly snatched victory with a last-ditch Drop-goal attempt sailing a cheese grating wide of the upright. The final whistle blew and was met by an eerie silence despite NURL taking a point from a Leeds Met fixture for the first time in many years.
The Sombre post-match mood was testament to NURL’s increasing endeavor for high standards and victory. This unusually drab attacking performance will certainly need to be improved upon for next week’s blockbuster with UcLan.