Newport (Salop) RUFC

Sat 2 Oct 2021

Newport (Salop)

20 - 28

(HT 5-22)

Scunthorpe

Newport (Salop)

Scunthorpe

Newport 20 – Scunthorpe 28

By: Peter Maher – October 5, 2021

Newport fell to their first defeat of the season on Saturday going down 20-28 to old rivals Scunthorpe. Port played some exciting expansive rugby at times despite the poor weather conditions. Unfortunately, however these periods proved to be sporadic and Scunthorpe capitalised on their game built around kicking and determined defence.

Port opened the scoring after four minutes when Sam Evans came in off the left wing and started a coast-to-coast move which saw Alex Gow score in the opposite corner. Port however failed to capitalise on their subsequent period of dominance. Scunthorpe went over with a pushover try after 16 minutes having pinned Port in their own half. Their lead was extended after twenty-five minutes when they found a soft shoulder in the Newport defence. At twenty-seven minutes a contested box kick fell fortuitously to the Scunthorpe winger allowing the visitors to extend their lead to 5-19, a lead further extended to 5-22 following a converted penalty from under the posts.

This was clearly not the position Port expected at the turn and Bob Adams rang the changes, Connor Adams moving to scrum half, Jake Leonard to fly half and Wells and Qera coming on in the pack. The changes paid immediate dividends with Port going over after forty-three minutes through Chris Perry. Captain Tom Cowell was yellow carded after forty-six minutes for a high tackle however this did not take away from Port’s momentum. After forty-seven minutes a strong run by full back George Castledine broke the visitors defensive line creating the opportunity for Matt Hubbard to dot down. Fifty-four minutes saw more concerted pressure from the Port pack within the Scunthorpe twenty-two, the driving maul allowing Hubbard to touch down for his second bringing the score to 20-25. Playing down the slope Port had seemingly put themselves in position to take the game. The momentum and cohesiveness they had displayed in the first period of both halves however disappeared from their game. Scunthorpe dug in, persisted with their kicking game and Port were unable to engineer the winning try. The game was put to bed on thirty-seven minutes when Port gave away a penalty in front of their posts resulting in a final score of 20-28.

Director of Rugby Bob Adams commented afterwards “we simply lost focus for parts of the game which meant we were not playing with our usual flowing style. We made some poor decisions and when you are this inconsistent you always risk a loss. We will however take the positives from this game and just as importantly the learning points which we will work on this week. We travel to Sheffield on Saturday who are always a tough prospect at home and I am looking for a reaction”.

Newport retains top spot in the Midlands Premier League and head a group of six teams with four wins and one loss from five.  Newport’s next home game is on Saturday October 23rd when they host fellow Shropshire club Bridgnorth in the local derby.