Newark 3s Overpower Gainsborough 2s

In a one-sided outing to Gainsborough on Saturday afternoon, Newark 3rds proved to be just too powerful for a scratch Gainsborough side, running in 15 unanswered tries in a painful session for the home team.

The first half saw a plethora of scores with a dominant Newark pack securing ball at both set-piece and breakdown and hinging effectively with a formidable back line including (variously) Billy Charles, Josh Seabrook, Toby Taylor, Karl Ward, Dan Walker and latterly Ben Davies and Ed Armstrong.

Gainsborough struggled manfully against the tide, but in truth struggled to find any shape outside the set-piece and Newark ran in 10 tries in 40 minutes, with Matt Christian starting the tab in the first minute and adding another later, and Taylor, Ward (2), Charles (2), Foskett and Walker all adding scores (convs. Seabrook, penalty Seabrook) – 71-0 going into the break.

The home side tightened their game up noticeably in the second half with a significantly improved scrummaging effort but continued to leak tries throughout the period. Haydn Godfrey, Ben Davies and Ed Armstrong all crossed the line, and Dan Foskett and Toby Taylor each added another to their tally. By the final whistle, Newark had added 26 points to their tally to give a final score of 0-97.

Aside from those who scored, there were some fine performances from the rest of the squad and great to see Harrison Holbourn and Tom Gilchrist back on the pitch and putting in telling shifts both in ball-carrying and in support.

As a final word, massive credit must go to Gainsborough, who were out-gunned on this occasion but never let their heads go down and continued to play in good spirit throughout.

Next up, Mansfield away for the 3s and Market Rasen in the cup at home for the 2s.

Tries: Christian (2), Taylor (2), Ward (2), Charles (2), Foskett (2), Armstrong, H Godfrey, Seabrook, Walker, Davies

Convs: Seabrook (11)