The death machine separated the wheat from the chaff in their mountain top battle with the elements.
Adverse weather conditions were to blame for the cancellation of Sheffield Hallams date with death at Cochrane park. However, keen to maintain peak fitness ahead of Stan Calvert, the AUs most beloved team took to the snowy peaks of the Town Moor to participate in the first annual NURL sledge off.
Liverpool Uni – 6
NURL – 14
Off the back of a huge home win against Liverpool University earlier in the season, it seemed routine for NURL to take the points in the away fixture. However with numerous first team players missing through either injury or university commitments, only at the last minute did the mighty owls manage to fill the team sheet.
NURL – 34
Leeds Uni – 12
A torrid gusty wind swept over Cochrane Park on a gloomy Wednesday afternoon as the Might Owls swooped in to defend their top of the league honours against an inbred looking Leeds outfit. The monstrous NURL death machine needed a good opener after not playing for a fortnight due to John Moores postponing last week fixture in order to riot in London.
NURL – 34
Leeds Met 2nds – 10
The death machine got back to winning ways with a 38-10 victory over fellow table-toppers Leeds Met at Cochrane Park.
NURL made sure they pushed on from last weeks defeat to Sheffield by flying out of the blocks against the Met drongos. A bone shattering tackle from NURL heartthrob Joe “Deadlift” Dawson and powerful running from prop Daniel “chorley cake” Caparros set the tone for the hosts, whose physicality would prove too much for the visitors over the 80 minutes.
Sheffield Hallam – 16
NURL – 14
An exhausted NURL fell to their first league defeat of the season as they visited the home of all incestuous drongos; Sheffield.
The Owls flew out of the blocks from the first whistle, with a punishing opening 10 minutes seeing both teams complete attacking sets. However, it was the home team that took the impetus, crashing over in the corner after a number well worked passing moves to record the first points of the match. Predictably, their woeful kicker failed to convert the try, perhaps finding his friends pitch-side dog fight too much of a distraction.
NURL 2nds – 32
Northumbria 3rds – 8
After emphatic wins over Hull and Huddersfield in previous weeks the death machine rolled into Bullocksteads full of confidence. For many of the players, it was their first experience of the tense atmosphere of a varsity game. Blustery conditions typical of Newcastle dogged the game, with unpredictable high balls leading to many a handling error.
NURL – 60
Liverpool Uni – 12
The Owls new-look first team followed up last weeks win by crushing newly promoted Liverpool 60-12 at Cochrane Park.
It was vital for Newcastle to maintain momentum from their win at Leeds going into their first home fixture, however the opening stages proved anything but convincing. Aggressive Liverpool defence kept the hosts at bay in a hotly contested opening 15 minutes. NURL were in need of inspiration, which came in the form of their industrious second row Dave Knox, who wriggled through a number of tackles before crashing over for the opening try.
Hull University 2nds – 14
NURL 2nds – 20
Venturing into the rugby league stronghold that is the slums of Hull, NURL 2nds knew today would be all out war. The Hull University hordes stormed onto the pitch in vast numbers while brave Rob Andrew and his 17 stood in wait, prepared for glory.
Leeds Uni – 14
NURL – 48
Fresh from their victory over Bradford, the owls descended upon the armpit of England – Leeds – to kick off their new league campaign. The match began in poor form for the visitors, as Leeds took advantage of some uncharacteristically weak NURL defending to go 4-0 up with less than five minutes on the clock.
Bradford – 14
NURL – 36
As the gears of the NURL death machine began to grind back into motion, the AUs most beloved sports sports team visited the 1994 european capital of culture: Bradford. The match started at a typically frantic pace, with Joe “deadlift” Dawson bumbling over two tries early in the first quarter to send the crowd into raptures.