Newport (Salop) RUFC

Newport continued their away trips with a shorter journey down to the outskirts of Leominster where, despite another spirited performance, they were unable to secure any league points for the second week running. Seldom can they have enjoyed so much possession yet failed to turn that into points as they struggled to penetrate against a resolute and organised home defence. There was just the one change to the starting line-up to that which had laboured so manfully at Clifton last week, Nat Titchard-Jones returning at prop, Jordan Grass dropping to the bench where there was also a place for the recalled Tristian DeJager. It was Lucs who began the more brightly and after they had a try ruled out chose to take the three points on offer that their early dominance probably warranted, Louis Silver knocking over a regulation penalty to make it 3 – 0 after seven minutes. Newport then won a scrum penalty and Connor Adams opted for a long range shot at goal but he didn’t catch it right and was well short with the kick. The visitors were well in the game at this stage, competing well but unable to break through but disaster struck when a Newport attack was intercepted on half way by scrum half Josh Nott who scampered away to finish under the posts, Silver converting to give them a ten point advantage after sixteen minutes. Newport had their best chance of the half when George Castledine was able to put a penalty to within five metres of the Lucs line after they had been pulled up for a side entry infringement. They then spent a long period in the home twenty-two but after a long period of pressure the ball was spilled and the chance was lost. Chris Taylor, just as last week, made a timely interception to prevent a further Lucs score before Reece Beddowes just failed to hold onto a pass that was fractionally behind him and if taken would surely have seen him streak clear of the Lucs cover but alas it was not to be and Newport turned round 10 – 0 down, somewhat frustrated by their failure to break the home defence who were reduced to fourteen men just before the break due to a technical offence. Newport started the second half brightly with Titchard-Jones, Nick Murphy, Josh Kent and Rhys Morgan, who had been introduced from the bench, all carrying well and making yards. Their chance to take the game by the scruff of the neck surely arrived when Lucs suffered another yellow card to reduce them to thirteen but still they couldn’t find any weak spots in the Lucs defence and they were punished for these inabilities when Lucs broke into Newport territory and won themselves a penalty that Silver converted on fifty minutes to increase their lead to 13 – 0. Restored to a full complement Lucs began to take charge and a tackle bust in midfield allowed centre Lewis Parkes to reach out and score by the posts, Silver adding on the extras to put the game beyond reach at 20 – 0 after fifty-five minutes. Although they continued to have sustained periods of possession they still got no change out of the home defence so it was no great surprise when Lucs worked their way gradually towards the Newport line through controlled tight phases that eventually saw prop Joe White driven over for the try, again converted by Silver to make it 27 – 0. There was now nothing that Newport could take from this game but they continued to fight and eventually got themselves on the scoreboard when Chris Perry wriggled and twisted his way out of three tackles to score after seventy-two minutes. Lucs then pushed for a fourth bonus point try but at least Newport managed to hold out and deny them for a final score of 27 – 5. Much improvement was seen in the Newport set piece but all to no avail as their attacking prowess was sniffed out virtually all afternoon by an impressive Lucs defensive effort. Although Newport remain in tenth, things are starting to get congested in the bottom half of the table so they will need to start picking up points soon if they are to pull away from potential danger. Written by Chris Wilde