Heughers 25 – Middlesbrough 31

Team: T.ROSS, S.MCGUIRE, D.COOKLAND, C.TAYLOR, D.BAXTER, C.BULLOCK, D.CHARTERS, M.FOSTER, S.BUTTERY, D.THOMAS, I.GALLAGHER, D.GREGORY, M.WILSON, A.SMITH, S.RAILTON, I.FLOUNDERS, N.FORBES, P.ARNELL.

From having a squad of 21 on Thursday I can’t believe we only had 13 players at 2pm and it was embarrassing thinking of going into the game with uncontested scrums, especially when we were only fielding 2 teams this week! Thankfully 2 more players arrived in time for the kick off and another 2 a bit later to go on the bench with a player who hasn’t played for years. This isn’t acceptable for a second team fixture of these two clubs and players need to take a look at their commitment, attitude and lack of communication.

Moan over!

Apart from that the players who took to the field performed great especially considering many of them out of position. Dylan was in at 10 for the first time and had a great game, as did Squid playing out of position at hooker with the injured Scotty moving to scrum half. Tony Ross moved up from the 3rds at prop and stuck to the task well against the powerful Boro pack, Mick Foster also moved up from the 3rds and had a great game at 8 with Chris Taylor moving into the second row and Matty Wilson moving from the back row to centre pushing Steve Railton to full back.

The game started fairly even with Rovers taking the first points after 5 minutes, Squid drop-kicking a penalty because he didn’t have a tee. Boro hit straight back with one of their own and then another on 17 minutes from the boot of Simon Moore who was starting to pull the strings at 10.

Squid hit another to level the scores 6 – 6 a couple of minutes later but Boro scored the first try on 25 minutes after a quick tap penalty was passed out to score an unconverted try, 6 – 11.

The game had been fairly even with solid runs from Foster, Taylor and Gregory and Squid was unlucky hitting the post with another penalty. A lack of concentration in defence gave Boro a throw in on Rovers line and the Boro forwards scored a converted try with a text book drive over, 6 – 18, 37 minutes. Moore punished another silly penalty on half time giving them a commanding 6 – 21 lead going into the break.

Rovers put a poor 10 minutes behind them and continued to give as good as they were getting. Steve Railton took the ball on half way and after a great spin continued to dodge all of the visitors for a fantastic individual try taking the score to 11 – 21, 43 minutes.

It was Adam’s turn for a toilet break this week being replaced by Nick but sadly he didn’t last long as he damaged his shoulder. Scotty also had to come off doing well to last so long with an injury, young Fuzz went on the wing and Greggs moving to number 9. Another penalty on 50 minutes kept the Boro score going in the right direction, 11 – 24 but more good pressure kept Rovers in with a chance.

An out of the blue kick and chase then a follow up drive ended with Randy getting a second try, converted by Squid, 18 – 24, 58 minutes. The home side were trying hard but despite scoring their tries out wide they continued to make it easy for the heavier Boro pack by running the ball back into them.

This allowed them to get into an attacking position and the scrum proved too strong with the referee (who had an excellent game) awarding a penalty try, 18 – 31, 62 minutes.

Another solo try closed the gap when a 22m drop out was gathered by Buller who galloped to the line unchallenged. Squid was deadly with the boot again taking the score to 25 – 31 with 3 minutes to go.

One of the Heughers famous steals from last year was on the cards but unfortunately didn’t happen and the technically better Boro team left with a deserved win but I’m sure they will be cautious when they return for the league fixture in a couple of weeks.

Final score 25 – 31, well done to all of the lads who played, great team spirit.