Novos inflict heavy defeat on Bishops boys

Novocastrian RFC 56 Bishop Auckland RUFC 0

Bishop Auckland 1st XV slumped to their fifth defeat in a row and their worst league performance as they were trounced by over 50 points by leaders Novocastrians. Several first minute withdrawals in key positions left Bishops with a weakened side that was always going to struggle against the top team, but it was poor defence and weak tackling rather than team changes that allowed Novos to run in nine tries. It was clear from the outset that the speedy home backs were going to be real threat and Bishop never got on terms with them. An early Novos faltered when they were penalised and Bishop could have cleared their lines, but instead they conceded a scrum on their own five metre line and the heavier Novos pack had little difficulty in driving them back over the line. Almost from the restart they scored again as their winger broke down the wing, kicked over Bishop's defence and comfortably won the race to touch down. Bishop's pack worked hard to get back into the match but poor handling and poor kicking spoiled much good work and their back were constantly caught in possession. On the stroke of half time they were again caught flat-footed as Novos ran through their defence for a simple try. Within a minute of the restart their back turned spectators as they watched Novos run through to touch down. Worse was to follow. From the kick off Novos knocked on but took the ball against the head and kicked deep into Bishop's half. When full back Dent mis-fielded, Novos were awarded a scrum from which they moved the ball wide and through some ineffective tackling to score. Both tries were converted and in a matter of minutes a 20-0 deficit had become 34-0. Bishop's forwards worked their way back into the home 22, but their commitment to attacking rugby simply added to their problems as they lost possession and four times the Novos backs ran from deep in their own territory to score.

Meanwhile a badly depleted 2nd XV squad struggled admirably to contain a strong Novos 2nd XV before going down 69-0.

University of Northumbria BUSA Halifax Rugby 7s

Northumbria University Women's rugby team won the inaugural British Universities Rugby 7s title on their ground. Northumbria sneaked through the group stages by the narrowist of margins after a victory over Durham University 17-12 in their opening match followed by draw against Leeds University (15-15) and St Mark and St John (10-10). This meant that the Northumbria team faced Crewe and Alasger in the semi-final with the other semi being contested by Leeds Uni and Nottingham Trent.

For the semi-final the sun came out and this brought out the best in the Northumbria girls. They never looked like losing, with two tries before half time from Clair Cruikshank followed in the second half by Vikki Rivett and Northumbria player of the tournament Susan Coates which resulted in a 20-0 victory. This meant that they faced Leeds University in the final.

The final was always going to be a hard-fought battle with the tight game in then group stages. Northumbria raced to s 12-0 lead with tries from Coates and Melanie Christie one of which was converted by Cruikshank. Leeds fought back with a good try from their England Academy Centre Caroline Bell, this made the half time score 12-5 Northumbria. After half time a fine break from Iona Frickleton was taken by and scored by Sophie Weaver this was converted by Cruikshank. Leeds fought back with two tries in the closing stages, both of which were unconverted, but Northumbria held on for a 19-15 victory.

Squad: Vikki Rivett, Iona Frickleton, Pippa Hartley, Sophie Weaver, Clair Cruikshank (c), Melanie Christie, Susan Coates, Elaine Limond, Sophie Lazenby, Adele Bradfield.