Newport (Salop) RUFC

Sat 4 Mar 2023, 14:15

Newport (Salop)

34 - 19

(HT 24-0)

Hornets

Newport (Salop)

Hornets

 Port continued their current run of accumulating points with a well-deserved thirty-four to nineteen win over Hornets at Stade Bloor at the weekend. The match was a “double pointer” with Hornets in the same dog fight for survival at the bottom of the table as Port so the fact that the Somerset outfit collected no bonus points was significant. Newport now sit in eleventh on equal points with Hornets with a game in hand.

The in form Connor Adams was instrumental in both of the first two tries. After six minutes Port gained the ball at half-way with a turnover at a ruck. Adams made the line break, fed Matt Hubbart who then passed to Dan Brough who finished with aplomb. Brough’s pace, ability to stay on his feet and sheer determination to score have certainly brought a new dimension to Port’s game. Four minutes later Adams broke down the blind side and fed Josh Kent who easily beat the covering defenders for speed and dotted down. After eighteen minutes Port won ruck ball at their own twenty-two going through the hands to Brough who still had a ton of work to do. Undeterred he broke four tackles to dot down under the posts, an incredible finish. After twenty-two minutes Brough turned provider, breaking from half-way he played in fellow wing Charlie Gamble for the try. George Castledine’s two of four conversions saw Port twenty-four to nil up. With strong carries from Finn Barnes, Oli Buckley, Hubbart and Kent, Port had control of the game. Port’s intensity and focus then seemed to drop. Twice they worked themselves into promising positions with attacking lineouts within the Hornets twenty-two but failed to capitalise handing momentum to the visitors. This resulted in a penalty at the Port twenty-two that Hornets failed to capitalise on. Half time score twenty-four to nil.

As has been shown to be the case throughout the season there are no easy games in this division and the second half performance of Hornets proved the point. Jake Leonard, carrying well at twelve found an early soft shoulder and was illegally brought down, Castledine dispatching the resultant penalty to extend the home lead to twenty-seven to nil. Hornets then upped their game with some good forward carries and on forty-seven minutes gained lineout at the Port five which was dispatched by hooker Christopher Francis. On sixty five minutes Port stemmed the Hornets pressure when they won a penalty in their own twenty-two. The resulting exit kick however missed touch and the returning player broke two tackles to advance to the Port twenty-two. Hornets then went through the hands for Matthew Parker to dot down, score twenty-seven to twelve. Hornets were clearly now dominating territory being denied a try on sixty-six minutes when the ball was held up. The recently arrived Jack Wells then received a yellow card on seventy minutes as a result of an infringement at another Port try-line stand. Port then won a scrum penalty against the head on their own five and exited to half-way. Some neat play from the resulting line-out saw Matt Hubbart break a couple of tackles to dot down and relieve the pressure. The visitor’s kept up the fight to the end however with both Castledine and Buckley joining Wells in the bin. Hornets went over in the eightieth minutes to bring the score to thirty-four to nineteen. Port put up some valiant defence however to deny the visitors a try scoring bonus point.

A well won five points then which keeps Port in charge of their own destiny having taken seventeen from a possible twenty points in the last four games. Next weekend’s visit to fourth place Hinckley will no doubt be another challenge so there will be no taking the foot off the gas from Bob Adams’ men this week as they look to secure National rugby for next season.