Wath-upon-Dearne 13 Northallerton 48

NORTHALLERTON travelled to Wath looking to improve their dismal away record in the league.

Although they were playing the division's bottom club, they started slowly and found the going tough against a committed home team.

With 35 minutes of the first half gone the visitors had a slender 5-3 lead thanks to a powerful surge from second row Jeff Foster, who scored their try, while full back Jonathan Wrigley converted a penalty for Wath.

At this point the vociferous backing of the travelling supporters seemed to galvanise Northallerton and they began to dominate proceedings.

Good work by stand off Karl Elliott and centre Mark Smith put full back Ed Bulman in space and he finished well. Bulman added the conversion and North had a 12-5 half-time lead.

After the break tries came at regular intervals. Elliott carried the ball into the opposing forwards from a free kick and skipper and No 8 Steve Robinson was on hand to claim a try which Bulman converted.

More forward pressure led to a try for hard-working flanker Colin Hall, which Bulman again improved. Robinson then went in for two more power tries before replacement Garry Appleyard marked his impressive cameo role with a storming try from second phase ball following a tap penalty.

Bulman converted this score before North relaxed to let the home side in for two unconverted tries from fly half Craig Wood and right winger Richard Greaves.

Right winger Rob Cramb had the final word for North as he collected a wayward kick out of defence to outpace the cover and score. This was a much improved performance from North, characterised by skipper Robinson's impressive hat-trick of tries.

North's fixture for tomorrow has yet to be arranged, but details will be available from the club.

Northallerton 2nds 14

Wath 2nds 31

A disappointing result for the second XV bearing in mind the lowly league position of Wath and the emphatic victory achieved by the first XV. But the score does not altogether reflect how competitive an encounter this was.

An early injury to North full back Ian Townsend meant an enforced reshuffle and versatile back row man Cliff Pointon moved to the centre to utilise his undoubted defensive capabilities.

The first 20 minutes were evenly matched and, if anything, North marginally gained the upper hand. But when the Wath pack did get clean possession, their very balanced back division, orchestrated by ex-first team fly half Jeremy Gommersall, proved very dangerous and they scored two first-half tries, both converted.

The second half try count was three to two in Wath's favour, with their powerhouse inside centre completing a hat-trick of tries.

The forward battle was evenly balanced throughout the second period, with North's pack looking particularly impressive in a series of pick and drive passages of play rewarded with tries from fly half Brian Tucker and No 8 Martin Dennison. Both were converted by Tucker.

Northallerton 3rds 25

Middlesbrough 4ths 0

This result was satisfying revenge for North after the defeat they suffered at Acklam Park at the hands of a strong Middlesbrough side just a month ago.

North came out firing on all cylinders and applied early pressure. Reward came from two unconverted tries scored by Northallerton's guest No 8 and centre Dave Travis for a 10-0 half-time lead.

Early second-half pressure from Boro went unrewarded and North regained control with a try from skipper Jim Haddaw before Mark Waldon showed exciting potential in the centres to claim his second try.