Newark shot down after flying start
Newark Rugby Club aim to get back to winning ways tomorrow at Market Bosworth after letting slip a 17-3 lead against Scunthorpe to go down 34-25 at Kelham Road on Saturday.
Tries by Aloesi Waqalevu and David Fagan in the opening minutes looked to be continuing the good form Newark had produced the previous week in beating Mansfield 39-15 in the opening game of their Midlands Two East campaign.
Waqalevu, who had scored four tries against Mansfield, scored first when he powered through the Scunthorpe defence. Fagan struck minutes later when a concerted team attack put Newark further clear.
Scunthorpe pulled a penalty goal back before Danny Coen added three points to take Newark 17-3 clear. However, a disastrous spell midway through the half allowed the visitors back into the game as they gained two tries from defensive lapses by a home team eager to attack from all parts.
If Newark had adopted a more conservative game plan then they would have had the advantage at the interval rather than the teams being locked at 17-17.
The home team should also have made more of a sustained period of pressure towards the end of the half when Matt Brewer and Fagan almost scored further tries.
Scunthorpe took over after half-time, helped by a sin-binning offence by Brewer that reduced Newark to 14 men for ten minutes.
The visitors scored three tries in the third quarter and had the match settled before a home revival brought a third try, this time from wing Russell Westcott.
Westcott had made his league debut after coming on as a substitute in the second half for scrum-half Matt Clark. His introduction brought about a reshuffle in the Newark backline that saw Danny Coen switching to scrum-half and Fagan moving to outside-half from the wing.
Newark had been disrupted before the match when Johnny Statham pulled out because of a hamstring problem. This meant a call up for Fagan from the bench and Wescott being pulled across from the 2nd XV who were also playing Scunthorpe at Kelham Road.
Another problem during the match was a badly cut mouth for Olly Cole, the newcomer at prop from Market Rasen. His injury proved so severe that he had to be substituted by Mickey Barker, who had agreed to come out of retirement to help out by joining the substitutes.
Newark 2nds 24
Scunthorpe 12
A quick start caught a bigger Scunthorpe team off guard at Kelham Road but, unlike the 1st XV, the 2nd XV managed to record a win in this club match.
After hooker Ian Tomlinson had a try disallowed in the opening period, Newark scored twice in quick succession through newcomer Chris Tate at centre and winger David Walters.
Newark led 10-0 at half-time and a third try after the break from lock Ben McCarthy put them further ahead.
Scrum-half Jamie Sizer, promoted from the 3rd XV, converted that score and then improved the fourth try from Alex Statham after the winger had spun through three opposing defenders.
Though Scunthorpe rallied in the closing stages, Newark had the match in the bag.
Scunthorpe 69
Newark 3rds 29
An individual try from Tom Lee was among the highlights of Newark’s difficult trip to Scunthorpe.
The home team were far too strong for a visiting team that grabbed further scores through Bryan Loftus (2) and Steve Hodges. Lee and Loftus kicked the other points.
Scunthorpe 36
Newark 4ths 7
Colts player Ted Bunn was again among the try scorers for Newark. After his part in the victory last week, the centre had to endure a bruising afternoon despite his score. Stan Hutchinson kicked the conversion.
Newark U-16s 21
Scunthorpe 0
Newark had a good start to the new season when they entertained a much larger and and very physical Scunthorpe side at Kelham Road.
Sound scrummaging and line-out from the Newark pack was enhanced by the debut of their new back row player Morgan Eames, their excellent team work resulted in tries for back row Zak Briggs-Price and prop Jake Ragsdale-Lowe.
Outside centre David Ellery’s outstanding runs at the Scunthorpe defence saw him power over for a great individual try and all three Newark tries were converted by the accurate kicking of fly-half George Stewart.
Newark U-15s 29
Ilkeston 5
Newark Under-15s started their NLD Cup competition in style against a big Ilkeston side, with tries from Isaac Murphy, Alfie Bowson-Smith, Joe Burnett, Jack Franklin and Scott Rose and two conversions from Alex Hales.
Stamford 17
Newark U-13s 48
Newark Under-13s produced an excellent performance in their away match at Stamford and were rewarded with tries from Will Lyon (3) Jake Turner (2) Liam Westcott and Ross Taylor, plus five conversions and a penalty by Ben Dixon.
The host side came back strongly but Newark were determined in defence and created several turnovers from excellent rucking.
