Jarrovians 3  Newton Aycliffe 44

Newton Aycliffe Rugby Club began their competitive matches with a straightforward victory in the Durham County Plate.  The bank holiday meant that both teams were missing players, but Aycliffe were still able to field one of their strongest back lines in recent years, with Chris Richards returning at scrum half, having missed the whole of last season on duty with the Forces in Afghanistan.
The early exchanges saw Aycliffe playing into the hands of the home side’s big forwards and over-elaborating when opportunities arose. but they took the lead when Jarrovians attempt to fling the ball wide was intercepted by Trevor Ward who ran the ball back to within 10 metres of the line before giving the ball to Luke Tinkler who scored the try.  Jarrovians replied with a penalty kick but Tinkler soon returned the favour.
Sam Daltry, playing at hooker for the first time, was in fine form but the Aycliffe forwards continued to make hard work of the game.
Daylight finally began to appear between the teams when David Judge made a break through the defence, beating numerous players before being tackling just short of the line, but Tinkler was again on hand to score. Tinkler’s conversion was the last score of the half and the two sides turned round with the score 3 – 15.
Early in the second half, the Aycliffe lead was extended after Warren Parsonage returned a clearance kick and released Richards with an excellent offload.  Richards did the rest.
Jarrovians continued to battle hard, but the greater pace in the Aycliffe team saw them stretched to the limit and Aycliffe soon found themselves with an overlap; Deryk Cairns scoring.
Judge added a further try with a try from his own half and Jeff Hodgson powered over from a tap penalty.  The final score came when Craig Holmes broke clear from the back of a ruck, and, as he tired, Michael Dunn was able to complete the score.  Tinkler added a further two conversions to give a final score of 44 – 3.
Despite the scoreline, Aycliffe were not completely satisfied as they did not play to their strengths in the first half and, against stronger opposition that could prove fatal.  Aycliffe play at Northallerton on the evening of Friday 30th August before beginning their league campaign against promotion candidates South Tyneside College at Moore Lane on 14th September. website at www.pitchero.com/clubs/newtonaycliffe.
The club wishes to thank new sponsors for this season, Boola CLlothing and Hayward Home Appliance Services trading as Serviceforce.