A great day at the office for West End who beat a very good Consett side 27-25
With players still yet to return with injuries West End were forced to move players around with Mike Marra moving to the centres (with his pink boots) and Justen Elliot slotting in at 8.
First of all a few big hits came in from West End which pushed back Consett. Scoring started when Consett gave it to their winger who rushed past an out of place Ewan Pritchard to pass the try line and was then lucky to score from a sneaky tackle in the try area from Pritchard.
From there a few great runs came from Pritchard who covered alot of ground for West End. The forwards then put in a great shift and pushed for more metres up the pitch. West End weren't going to stop there, the ball was then played out of a great scrum from the forward pack for Tony Kay who passed it into the back line to Ali Thornton who then passed it onto Mike Mara onto Jacob Foy who then knocked it on to justin elliot who nicely passed the ball over to Pritchard who was on a one on one with his man. Ewan then skipped past the player to then get tackled over the line great try from the team. Conversion score 7-7
Another great piece of play followed with Pritchard making a great run where he ducked and span out of a tackle to then make alot of ground. He then offloaded it to Chris Hoskins who took it fast into a tackle with his fellow forwards shortly behind to clear the Consett players off the ensuing ruck. Then the ball was played with quick hands from the backs for Harvey Thompson to slip through and take the ball under the posts scoring a great try again.
During the next period West End lost their composure for a moment and Consett capitalised. Quickly after that another two tries were scored by Consett for them to take the lead, the score 25-12
But then another great run from Ewan who rushed past his man, ran through the Consett pack then offloaded it off to Kay who made a great run to then get tackled close to the try line. From there Jamie Shilling took the ball and the forwards pushed him over the line to get another try for him this season great team effort once again. Score 25-17
A dry spell came with Consett starting to show signs of tiredness due to playing with 14 for long periods and kicking up field but Marty McHugh covering well for a kick and smashed it back up field for West End to gain possession again. From there West End stepped up with a few catch and runs from Ewan Pritchard. Some great runs from John McGrann (sporting some lovely black boots), Dean Henderson and many of the forwards who had an amazing day today. A few missed opportunities to score passed after some successful attempts while breaking the Consett line with some great support play.
From there a breakaway ensued from West End with all players involved, it then went onto Joe Rowan who sweetly passed it over the heads of some players (still not sure if it was intended) to Dean Henderson who was out on the wing (where else?). Deano then made the manager look great as play from Henderson and Pritchard as if straight off the training ground where Dean Henderson lured the defending player inside and then used the overlap to get it to Pritchard who ran it into the corner to score his second try of the day. He was on fire (has anyone guessed who wrote this was?).
Shortly after all that a kick to touch came in from Ali Thompson to kick it straight to the left hand corner yards out from Consett's try line with a minute remaining. A great lineout ball came from Rowan for Jamie Shilling to collect the ball and play it to McGrann who then ran it in and was stopped just short of the line but then the West End pack pushed hard to get rid of the Consett players around the breakdown. Adam Healy then picked and dove to the line with help from Mark Highton to score an amazing last gasp try. West End were ecstatic as the final whistle went and it was a hard fought win at 27-25. The pride, passion and character shown from the West End lads today was inspiring and amazing however there is still work to be done. All in all today ewan showed he was Better than any england player out there and calls for scouts to come and watch him true hero hahaha
It must be noted that Consett played with great spirit and character with short numbers and we look forward to playing them again in the league.
Thanks go out to Ken Purvis from West End for assisting Consett and playing for them for the match.
Starting XV:
- Chris Hoskins
- Joe Rowan
- Dean Henderson
- Adam Healy
- John McGrann
- Jamie Shilling
- Jacob Foy
- Justin Elliott
- Tony Kay
- Ali Thornton
- Mike Marra
- Harvey Thompson
- Mark Wilcox
- Ewan Pritchard
- Marty McHugh
Subs:
- Stephen Dancer
- Mark Highton
Final score 27 - 25
Tries for West End: Pritchard (2), Thompson (1), Healy (1), Shilling (1). Conv: Wilcox (1)
