Newark started the stronger

Match report from Mark Byrom

Match Report – Newark 1st XV vs Scunthorpe

The final pre-season game saw the visit of Scunthorpe to Kelham Road. It was a wet day but that didn’t stop Newark trying to play expansive rugby.

Newark started the stronger and dominated with the majority of the first half possession. This resulted in a penalty being awarded for a Scunthorpe player being offside.

Tom Mawer stepped up and slotted the conversion for a 3-0 lead to Newark.

The resulting kick-off was collected and the clearance kick was knocked on by a Scunthorpe player.

The Newark scrum once again showed its dominance and won clean ball for the backs to strike.

Billy Charles sliced open the Scunthorpe defence from a lovely weighted pass from Tom Mawer, however Newark were unable to hold onto the ball in the slippery wet conditions and failed to turn pressure into points.

Mid-way through the first half a midfield break from Kent Birch saw Newark on the front foot again. Some slick interplay between forwards and backs allowed Billy Charles to weave his way through a disjointed Scunthorpe defensive line and dot down for a debut try.

Conversion was missed by Tom Mawer.

The final five minutes of the half saw Scunthorpe apply some pressure to the home side, however some outstanding tackling from Aaron Riley, Freddie Tatham and Mikey Boyd saw Newark hold onto their 8-0 lead at half-time.

The second half saw the home side ring some changes. This unfortunately broke up the fluidity of the attack and saw both sides make basic errors.

No team were able to stamp their authority on the second half.

However, Newark’s defence stood strong and a double hit from Dan Mackie and Tom Mawer saw the resulting Scunthorpe player lose the ball in contact.

Ben Huddlestone fly hacked the ball through and out sprinted the Scunthorpe full back to score under the posts on his debut.

Dan Mackie added the conversion, giving Newark a 15-0 lead.

Team:

Max Chapple; Jono Marshall, Dan Padgett, Kent Birch, Billy Charles; Tom Mawer, Matt Clark; Aaron Riley, Lewis Cove, Freddie Tatham, Jonny Statham, Mikey Boyd, Jordan Hempstead, Ollie Brown, Rob Dunning.

Replacements:

Dan Mackie, Jon Webster, Dave Garland, Gareth Bartsch, Ben Huddlestone, Lee Gillat, Ian Tomlinson, Jake Turner, Alex Odell.