Newport (Salop) RUFC

Sat 19 Feb 2022

Newport (Salop)

20 - 10

(HT 5-5)

Broadstreet

Newport (Salop)

Broadstreet

Newport ran out twenty to ten winners over Broadstreet on Saturday on a stormy day that saw teams across the North Midlands and indeed the world remember the tragic death of Evesham player Jack Jeffery. Torrential rain over Saturday morning had left a large amount of standing water on the pitch at the Old Showground and it was only through the hard work of a dedicated group of volunteers who forked and swept the surface that the game took place at all. A minute’s applause took place before the game to remember the life of Jeffery who died following an injury sustained playing for Evesham the previous weekend. The wind was probably the strongest it has been all season at the Old Showground and combined with the finger numbing cold was never going to make for flowing open rugby. Newport chose to play up the hill and into the wind in the first half which as expected was a very hard slog. Newport however cut loose after twenty-five minutes when playing from the Broadstreet ten Cowell freed Castledine with a great ball who in turn found Rayabo and on to the jet healed James Morton to finish. Broadstreet used the wind well pinning Newport in their twenty-two as kicking for an exit was pointless in the teeth of the gale. After thirty-one minutes the Broadstreet pressure resulted in a try from a driving maul off a lineout at the Newport five. Newport had several more visits to the Broadstreet twenty-two which were however fruitless. The opponent’s ability to clear their lines with a kick that at least ended up in Newport’s twenty-two and in one case in Newport’s in-goal area proved hard work indeed. The teams went in at half time five points apiece which, in the context of the weather was not a bad outcome for Newport. Newport started the second half brightly with some early pressure that saw Jake Leonard slot over a penalty after forty-four minutes. On forty-nine minutes Newport regained the ball in their own twenty-two from a scrum awarded for a Broadstreet knock-on. Castledine played a wonderful cross field kick to Toby Evans who in turn passed to the supporting Jake Leonard who fed Henry Vaka who dotted down for the try. Newport added to the scoring in rather bizarre fashion in the sixty third minute when a pass from Adams was taken by the wind, bounced off Leonard’s head and fell to Toby Evans who dotted down. Newport then had several opportunities to get the bonus point, however the strong wind that had made passing so difficult all day thwarted a number of efforts. On sixty-nine minutes Broadstreet made great progress up field against the wind by using the old “up your jumper” style of play with a series of heavy carries from their large pack. They secured a line out ten metres out and used their driving maul to good effect to cross the whitewash. Final score Newport twenty, Broadstreet ten. Director of Rugby and Head Coach Bob Adams commented “In the context of where we are in the season and given the weather conditions a win was the most important outcome on Saturday. A bonus point would have been nice, but Broadstreet came here to defend and the weather conditions were certainly a leveller. As a group what we must realise is that we can take nothing for granted. Every team in this league is capable of a performance on their day. We must be ready every week and continue to take one game at time”. Newport are at home to Oundle this Saturday in a fixture rearranged from earlier in the season, kick-off 2-15pm. Team: Grass, Cowell, Manning, Buckley, Hubbard, Morton, Mahoney, Taylor, Adams, Castledine, Toby Evans, Nawaqaliva, Vaka, Rayabo, Leonard Subs: Wells, Goulson, Brown. Scoreline: 25 mins Morton, TNC, 5-0: 31 mins Broadstreet, TNC, 5-5: 44 mins Leonard, Pen, 8-5: 49 mins Vaka, TNC, 13-5: 63 mins Toby Evans, TC, 20-5: 69 mins Broadstreet, TNC, 20-10. Leonard 1 conversion from 3 and 1 penalty.