Consett 10 – 29 West End RFC
A lack of available players due to injuries and other reasons meant that a depleted, but committed squad of 14 travelled to take on Consett on a very warm sunny day.
The game didn’t start slow with West End and Consett clashing over loose ball on the floor and competing in the backs. A missed pass in the West End backline near the Consett 5 lead to a breakaway try for the home side against the run of play. Not to be deterred the West End pack kept pressure on and spent the majority of the first half in the Consett half. Adam Healy bursting over from a few yards out and got the ball down however the ensuing pile on meant the referee had no clear view and adjudged it to be held up. This resulted in an excellent scrum and Tony Kay scoring a great try squeezing through a gap to score, must be the skinny fit strips.
Not long after this the stalwart skipper was on hand to take an offload from a run from Venters and run it over, two tries from the opportunist captain.
The second half then came and West End came out fighting again with some excellent forward play at set piece and the breakdowns resulting in a few balls turned over to the away team.
A man of the match performance from Callum Venters, who had been smashing the lights out of the opposition during some galloping runs, included two tries. His first came from the back of a well-executed catch and drive with Venters dotting over. With West End playing with 14 players they still managed to control large parts of the game with Consett not being able to make an advantage count.
A second try came from a decimating scrum 10 yards out from the Consett line, which pushed over and was finished by Venters.
Normal service then resumed when Jamie Shilling, after a lovely day down the coast with some fish and chips, entered the fray in the centres and contributed some bursting runs through the home team defence.
Consett managed to pull a try back by using an overlap in the backline around Marty McHugh however, after this it was then realised that there were 16 players on the pitch for the home side. The try still stood.
Tiredness starting to creep in, West End were under pressure with multiple penalties being awarded to Consett. An overlap on the wing meant Ewan Pritchard made a high tackle by accident in the 22 but west end stole the ball from the resulting lineout, amazing from the forwards once again. Another try came for Ewan Pritchard when Mike Marra, who replaced Matt Allmond in the forwards for the second half, popped the ball out to Pritchard who burned his man on the outside and scored a great try, celebrating before scoring the try only riled up the Consett pack, not a smart move.
All in all a fantastic effort in the new Canterbury strips for West End who showed great character, onwards and upwards for the final games of the seaon.
Tries: Kay (2), Venters (2), Pritchard
Conversion: McHugh (2)
