REVENGE was on the cards for Newbold as they beat Northampton Old Scouts 24-3 in the Midlands 1 East division at avenge the Intermediate Cup semi-final defeat last season, reports Alan Bale.
Newbold were expecting another tough game from the Northampton club who made the short trip up the M1 on a wet Saturday afternoon.
As early as the second scrum the home side won the ball against the head and shunted Old Scouts fully ten metres and it was from another scrum against the head that allowed skipper Facer to burst through the defence before feeding Lloyd Warner to score under the posts, with Ethan Wookey adding the extras for 7-0.
Throughout the 80 minutes, Old Scouts got hands on the ball around the breakdowns and managed to spoil the otherwise good ball Newbold could have used, which affected the flow of the game.
From one such turnover the visitors won a penalty which was struck sweetly for 7-3 but Newbold continued to profit from their scrum domination.
Declan George spun the ball to Phil Reed who chipped a smart kick over the top for Ethan Wookey to gather and run in a simple score and the conversion was scored for 14-3.
Old Scouts won their share of the line outs and Newbold were forced to defend in their own 22 for a considerable period.
Kickable options were turned down as Old Scouts looked for the try, but the home defence stood firm with KJ Henry and Danny Treharne both making huge tackles.
As the rain came down, both sides made mistakes, which resulted in knock ons from the slippery ball leading to a number of stoppages.
Old Scouts received a yellow card after a breakdown, allowing Wookey to extend Newbold’s lead to 17-3.
Early in the second half Stuart Houghton was yellow carded for a flailing arm in a maul before Old Scouts missed a relatively straight forward penalty as both sides continued to make errors in the deteriorating conditions.
Anthony Freeman made his debut for Newbold and showed enough to prove he will be an asset to this squad over the coming months as the hosts howed glimpses of the exciting brand of rugby served up over the last few weeks, but they could not seem to click into top gear and keep any momentum.
Old Scouts made it tough for Newbold, as their back row continued to disrupt but Newbolds’ scrum had the last word as yet another won against the head and Ben Dawes was able to force his way over and Wookey converted the extras for 24-3.
Newbold went all out to get the bonus point score but they failed to find a breakthrough and a win keeps Newbold in fourth place ahead of their next match against Old Laurentians on November 7.
