Newark v Ashbourne 2nds

Firstly a big thanks to Ashbourne 2nds for coming to Kelham Road for this pool fixture whilst their 1st XV were at Southwell, it just added to what was a great atmosphere at Newark.

With favorable conditions for open rugby Newark got off to a great start with Sam Dobson making an early impression on the wing to secure good territory, from a line-out just outside of the 22 Newark set a perfect driving maul which Ashbourne struggled to defend as AJ broke his bind he crashed over and with young Tom Mawer kicking the conversion the home side were 7-0. Ashbourne responded well but could not break Newark’s line; the sterling defence did cost Newark two players Tow Mawer and Nick Moore to head injuries after clashing together in a wraparound tackle!! One is MOORE than enough to tackle thanks!!!

Newark continued to defend well, showing some excellent line speed to shut down Ashbournes moves. Once to ball was secured by a strong pack both of Newark’s wings Andy Hill and Dobson made good clean break outs to relieve the pressure. Newark at times were guilty of rushing their phases of play but after some great pick and drives under Ash’s posts Nick Barton 'stormed' his way from 2 metres out through two defenders to extend the lead to 14-0 with Overlands kick. Ashbourne struggled to deal with pace in the backs at times with Dobson, Hill and Overland all making some impressive breaks, it was Dobson who took advantage of his pace kicking over the top and chasing through to have a free run in under the posts with Overlands trusty boot Newark were 21-0. Newark added a forth try following some excellent work at the scrum Overland picked off the base of the scrum and darted over the line to take the half time score to 26-0.

Newark got the second half underway with a dream start, a superb backs move gathering the ball from the kick off, it flowed across the park though the hands of every Newark back out to Dobson who sold a great dummy to the Ashbourne winger to sprint in from 40 metres, again Overland kicked the extra points 33-0. With the backs doing the job it was time for the pack to take credit for the next score, with Kash running a prefect lineout (something that Ash could not compete with) Newark found themselves deep in the visitors half, winning the ball off the ‘top’ Newark set up another maul. Skipper Dave Fotheringham took full advantage of the forward momentum and forced his way over to take the score to 38-8. Ash known for their commitment and hard hitting rugby to their credit did not give up despite the ‘Boulder Brothers’ the Barnsdale’s boys putting in some hefty tackles. The visitors finally managed to get a score on the board when Newark were a bit slow in defence from a quickly taken penalty 10 metres out 38-5.

As the game entered the final quarter it was evident that Ash were running on empty and Newark found it easy to break their line with rushing rugby. Andy Hill was rewarded for his excellent afternoons work with a cracking individual effort weaving his way through to take the score to 45-5 with the extra points from Overland. Tommy ‘Fumble Fingers’ Lee finally held onto a pass to add a score and with Andy Hill adding a second effort, a final try at the death Newark took the victory 59-5.

Cracking all for one and one for all performance with some great positive rugby being played and we didn’t even have the coach getting his kit dirty this week!!

Once again a BIG BIG THNAK YOU to Ashbourne for making the game happen, a tough afternoon but Newark really did appreciate the effort and commitment shown.

Same next week please!!