Newark see off Syston
Newark Rugby Club performed a remarkable turnaround by beating Midlands Two East league leaders Syston 16-7 on Saturday after losing the first game between the teams 55-15 last month.
A big Kelham Road crowd roared on Danny Coen’s team to a victory that leaves them only two points behind Syston. The competition resumes after the Christmas break when Newark travel to Old Northamptonians on January 5.
Newark proved the stronger in the second half after the opening 40 minutes ended with Syston leading 7-6 thanks to a early converted try against two penalties from Coen.
Once more Newark’s pack provided the winning edge by wearing down the visitors in the final stages, and the pressure paid off when referee Trevor Sharp awarded a penalty try after a series of scrums, and Coen converted.
A final penalty from Coen put his team nine points in the clear against a side who had scored nine tries against the Blue and Whites in the first game. This time Newark closed down their danger men, especially full-back Warren Coles.
For Newark, the win completes a marvellous first four months of the season. After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, a mixture of some new players plus better attendance at training has brought some very consistent results.
Club coach Bob Fowkes said: “Everyone has worked very hard and on Saturday we just wore them down. The pack has been tremendous and the midfield defence has become much tighter.”
Newark owe a lot to their group of “golden oldies” in props Ben Vidler and Mickey Barker, with Richard Byrom controlling affairs at full-back.
The pack has been strengthened by the return of Matt Brewer, a former Colt, alongside two fellow ex-Nottingham players in the versatile Ben Spokes and second row Graham Chenoworth.
Fowkes also reported that wing Mark Miller, who needed hospital treatment afterwards for an eye injury, was recovering after coming off midway through the first half.
Newark first team, who have no game tomorrow, will be in action on Boxing Day in the annual President’s Match, and the kick off is at noon at Kelham Road.
Frost caused Newark 2nds’ proposed game at Derby to be cancelled on Saturday.
Newark 3rds 54 - Derby 14
Some excellent running maintained Newark 3rd XV’s unbeaten record, with the backs scoring all eight tries after the Derby visitors had started much the stronger.
Substitute Chris Blood set up one of the best scores when taking a quick tap penalty that ended in one of two tries for Bryan Loftus after a break by captain Dan Harrison.
Harrison contributed three tries of his own and kicked seven conversions while the other touchdowns came from Neil Johnson, James McKewn and Steve Hodges.
Notts Casuals 46 - Newark 4ths 7
Newark 4ths endured a difficult trip to Notts Casuals where the home team’s 2nd XV proved too strong, especially in the first half when they ran up a 31-0 lead.
Good tackling by scrum-half Dan Cudlip and wing Richard Nichols, playing his first game, kept the score down.
In the second half Newark did better and gained their only try through flanker Paddy Robinson after a quick throw by Richard Bunn, with centre Ben Combes kicking the difficult conversion.
Newark Colts 8 - Paviors Colts 5
An individual try by scrum-half James Sizer was the highlight of Newark Colts’ triumph over county rivals Paviors, with his breakaway touchdown coming after he pounced on a loose ball in midfield to dart away.
David Fagan added a first half penalty that kept Paviors at bay despite their second half try.
The Colts are scheduled to play at Hinckley tomorrow in the first round of the National Colts Plate.
Southwell 1sts 13 - Mellish 25
On ground that was hard enough to skate on, Southwell lined up against old enemies Mellish looking to gain revenge for their recent away defeat Midlands Four East.
The problem was that the Redmen took time to get going, while the visiting team were up for it from the off and ran in two quick tries.
Southwell’s missed kicks to touch combined with tactical kicks always finding a full- back who was full of running.
Paul Rich kicked a penalty but the side trailed 18-3 at the interval before rallying in the second half with another Rich penalty and a Tim Brooks try converted by Rich.
Mellish 53 - Southwell 2nds 5
The Reapers went to Mellish with high hopes of a good afternoon out, but rumours that Mellish had recruited some if not most of Ashfield’s old first team unfortunately turned out to be true and they were 7-0 down within four minutes.
Mellish’s winger, who does the 100m in 11.0secs, ran in five tries, and the only real highlight for the visitors came when Will Gardner produced a try after an excellent run.
Southwell 3rds 15 - Mellish 0
Southwell 3rds gained revenge for their defeat earlier in the season as they flew the flag for the Park Lane club in some style with an excellent 15-0 win thanks to tries from Hugo Villanueva, Clive Weaver and Dan Moss.
Southwell Minis
Southwell Under-10s travelled to Widmerpool to face Keyworth and defied the cold weather and hard ground to play their hearts out, recording 15-0 and 30-0 wins with tries from George Aylward (3) Joe Orgill (2) Daniel Pearson (2) Chris Warner and Oliver Shelvey.
The Southwell Under-7 squad faced a mixed under-7 and under-8 side at Keyworth and one side lost 25-20 (tries — William Burnett-Boothroyd (2) Harry Shayler and Milo Sawula) and 50-10 (Alex Pearson 2) to their hosts, while the other Southwell under-7 line-up lost 50-10 (Bailey Simmons, Charlie Parkin) and 30-25 (Edward Johnston 3, Parkin, Joseph West).
