Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club remained in 2nd place in Durham and Northumberland Division 3 with a bonus point victory at Yarm. After defeat the previous week, they were keen to get their promotion challenge back on track and selected a strong team against tough opposition.
Yarm, featuring ex-Scotland international Simon Webster, had some strong players who would have to be carefully marshalled in defence, but Aycliffe had the edge in speed.  Aycliffe took the lead when Craig Holmes’ kick caught the wind to find the hands of Adam Gascoigne on the wing who was able to outsprint the defence to score a try that was converted by Luke Tinkler.
Every time James Thacker got the ball Yarm were having to use two or three men to stop him and, when he was able to find Gascoigne with a long pass, the lead was doubled. Yarm fought back with a try and the score at half time was 14 – 5.
Early in the second half it seemed that Aycliffe had made the decisive break. Andrew Littlefair made an arcing run around the defence and, when he was closed down, kicked the ball towards the posts; the resulting sprint for the ball was won by Gascoigne, who completed his hat-trick. Tinkler added his third conversion.  Yarm were not defeated and, using strong forwards, battered the Aycliffe defence; two tries, one of the converted saw them get within 4 points.
A Tinkler penalty saw the lead increase to 7, but Yarm continued to attack as time ran down. With time up, a penalty was awarded to Aycliffe in Yarm territory. Rather than kick the ball out for the win, Aycliffe decided to go for broke in an effort to get the bonus point for 4 tries. The ball was flung wide and after two quick rucks, Gascoigne was able to score in the corner with his fourth score of the afternoon. The final score was 29 – 17.
Despite not firing on all cylinders, Aycliffe’s spirit saw them hold on to their narrow win, whilst their adventure finally saw all the points gained, vital in an extremely close battle at the top of the division. Newton Aycliffe are sponsored by Boola Clothing Aycliffe and Hayward Home Appliances trading as Serviceforce.  Visit the website at www.pitchero.com/clubs/newtonaycliffe.