Westoe's latest win is muddy marvellous!
THIS was rugby's version of the Battle of the Somme, played on a Wood Terrace pitch of ankle-deep mud.
That referee Trevor Fisher allowed the game to go ahead was thanks to the rigorous garden fork-prodding of a small posse of volunteers to remove the puddles.
So Westoe chairman Duncan Murray, assistant team manger Jimmy Bell and club stalwarts Dave Wallace and Mark McKay should all take a bow for these endeavors along with Gareth Nesbit's men who toiled relentlessly for their third successive National 2 North victory.
Superiority in the forwards was crucial in such quagmire conditions, and this the Shieldsmen achieved playing up the slope in the first half, even though they were 10-7 down at the interval.
After the resumption, however, they were in almost complete control, battering the Tykes' defence with strong and sometimes rampaging drives and mauls.
Yet it was clever and fleet open play that got the game off to a sparkling start.
In just the second minute, winger Chris Clark's burst from just inside the visitors' half set away full-back Chris Judson, whose inch-perfect pass enabled centre Mark Olugbode to dive over beside the left post, fly-half Charlie Rayner making it seven points.
Four minutes later the scores were level after winger Tom Owen sped 30 metres down the left wing to touch down in the corner, centre Chris Johnson converting splendidly from afar.
Thereafter, it was much grimmer stuff with plenty of kicking, although both sides deserve credit for opening the game up whenever possible.
Although Dunes Adventure Island-sponsored Westoe could claim to have the edge, it was pretty much deadlocked until just before half-time when a tap-on penalty in midfield led to a Huddersfield attack that ended with a penalty in front of goal that a kicker of Johnson's calibre was never going to miss.
Westoe, having changed their mud-coated jerseys and now playing downhill, took the game by the scruff of the neck after the resumption, Rayner equalising with a penalty almost immediately.
Huddersfield defended with vigour, but in the 57th minute a strong pack drive set the home team backs away and Clark was too fast to be caught with a 15m spurt to score his eighth try of the season.
This was converted by Rayner, who then kicked his second penalty to further widen the gap which, with Westoe's own rearguard in sound order, looked too wide to be bridged.
And a well-deserved victory was assured six minutes before the end when further pack pressure again set the backs in motion, Rayner off-loading to the gutsy Judson, who sealed a fine personal performance by darting over.
Then Westoe just missed out on a bonus point when replacement flanker Hayden Richards was brought down just short of the line after a strong run down the centre.
Afterwards, director of rugby Andy Howells said: "The boys scrapped well and really stuck to their task in atrocious conditions.
"We dominated up front and came away with a good win that means we have racked up more points to make our position at National level even more secure."
* The Fourths, whose scheduled league match was postponed at the behest of opponents Durham City, were beaten 28-12 in a hastily arranged friendly at Oakleigh Gardens against a Novocastrian side, whose sharper, streetwise backs gave them the edge.
Westoe's tries were scored by flanker Graham Elstob and scrum-half Graham McManus, and converted by captain Glynn Jenkins.
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Weather for South Shields
Friday 25 May 2012
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