Newark Jingle West Bridgeford’s Bells in Close Contest

After a difficult series of games finishing up with a dismal outing to Southwell last week, Newark 2s needed to find their mojo today, and that’s exactly what they did in front of an exuberant crowd which appeared to include at least one Santa, several of his elves and a couple of oversized if well-oiled turkeys.

Following some inconclusive opening skirmishes, Newark notched up the first points after a penalty for a high tackle gave them good line out position 10 yards from the Bridgeford line. Sam Dobson gathered scrappy ball from a tap down and took it back in, allowing Ben Wells to crash over for the try, 5-0.

The celebrations of the Christmas contingent were quickly muted however, when Bridgeford established a commanding position from the restart, stretched out to the left and went over for 7 points, after Newark ran out of defenders – 5-7.

Newark fluffed the restart – straight out – but caused the Bridgeford scrum all sorts of trouble on the half way line, winning against the head and launching a rapid surge forward, only to come to grief when cold hands knocked the ball on in the pass. Bridgeford were steadier in the ensuing scrum, launching a high ball upfield which could have been dangerous if the effervescent Pat Ford had not taken it at pace, before heading off on a jinking run deep into opposition territory. With Bridgeford scrambling to get back for the breakdown, Ben Wells again went on the charge before popping the ball to scrum half Harry Jenkins to cruise over and touch down on the left, converting his own try – 12-7.

It felt like Newark were beginning to get the measure of their visitors – Santa’s little helpers in the stands were certainly in fine voice – but Bridgeford again showed why they are so hard to beat, rolling out an excellent whole team attack from the restart and scoring a fine try, levelling the score at 12-12.

In the final minutes of the half, with the influential Wells invalided off with a foot injury, Francis Appleton took up loose head duties in the front row, and when Alex Jackson peeled off on the charge from the back of the scrum, it was Frannie on his shoulder who benefited from his pass and touched down by the posts – 17-12 going into the break.

The second half saw worsening conditions, with the arrival of the promised icy rain and strengthening winds, and both teams knew they would have to work hard to make an impact.

Again, it was Newark who drew first blood from the restart, after a fine chase from the back row resulted in Bridgeford spilling the ball and Newark streamed forward to a ruck on the line before AJ struck at short range to take the tally to 24-12 (conv. Harry Jenkins).

But in almost a carbon copy of the first half, Bridgeford again struck back from the restart with an excellent move which saw them touching down on the left – 24-17.

This time, Newark’s response was immediate, with Haydn Godfrey finding a gap and driving forward and then presenting the ball back to Jenkins for a long pass out to Rees Overland. After a few seconds of outrageous juggling, Overland jinked his way through a non-existent gap, arcing round to land another 7 points by the posts (conv. Jenkins) – 31-17.
With a two try lead, Newark looked like they had it in the bag and the elves were again cavorting in the stands in full-throated support. But a dour and determined Bridgeford had other ideas, scoring twice over the next 25 minutes, both the result of a high Newark penalty count for which we were fortunate not to see yellow. 31-29.

Fortunately, this was to prove the high water mark for the visitors with momentum shifting Newark’s way for the final 10 minutes. And it was Newark who would close out the game with another fine score by Frannie, following a multiple-phased attack which ended with him barrelling over on the left, 38-29 (conv. Guillaume Pauvert), final score.

Great effort this from a hard-grafting Newark side which despite errors showed real heart in overturning a very tough and competent opposition.

Next up, a well-earned Xmas break to recharge the batteries!

Tries: Ben Wells, Harry Jenkins, Francis Appleton (2), Alex Jackson, Rees Overland
Conversions: Harry Jenkins (3), Guillaume Pauvert