North travelled to Heaton Moore Rugby Club last Saturday and were involved in a superb game of Rugby. North were without long term injury victim James Hyland and Lock Ross Barnes-Gott but welcomed back prop Dave McCarrick and scrum-half Matthew Wallace.

The game started at a terrific pace with some ferocious tackling and rucking from both sets of forwards. There were few scoring opportunities in the opening 20 minutes due to both sides solid defence. Centre Dave Vickers and No. 8 Chris Taylor were leading the way and both were putting there body on the line with some awesome hits on the opposition.

Heaton Moore were penalised for not releasing the ball giving John Eady a chance to open the scoring from 35 metres. A near perfect kick in difficult conditions sailed through the posts to give North a 3-0 lead. The home side then had a chance to level with a penalty of there own from a similar distance, but the opportunity was missed and the score stayed at 3-0.

North’s powerful runners were becoming a major factor in the game and Kev Green, Captain Gary Pugh and No. 8 Chris Taylor were making big gains in the position half, and with youngster Matthew Wallace on form North were looking very dangerous. Heaton Moore’s defence stood up to the pressure and North were unable to capitalise on there possession.

What the game was lacking in skill, was made up with passion and excitement as both sets of players continued to lock horns. Only a moment of individual brilliance by North’s young try-scoring sensation Steve Donoghue allowed the visiting team to score the first try of the afternoon. Donoghue received the ball on the halfway line after good work by fellow winger Matt Saxon and Matthew Wallace. Donoghue sped past his marker and weaved his way around almost the entire Heaton Moore backline. Moore’s pacy fullback chased North’s winger but the youngster just managed to dive over the line for his 11th try in 8 games, and possibly his best score so far. The kick was a formality to a man of Eady’s ability and North went into half time leading 10-0.

Heaton Moore were looking to get back into the game at the start off the second half and North were under pressure for the opening 5 minutes. Heaton Moore’s powerful centre was causing all sorts of problems for the North defence but Dave Vickers put in some tremendous text-book tackles during this period to prevent the home team from putting any points on the board.

North scored the next try after an excellent move from the backline. Ian Thompson had broke deep inside the opposition territory before being tackled 15 metres from the Moore line. Quick ball allowed Wallace to feed fly-half John Eady who gave a flat pass to centre Chris Hyland. Hyland ran a devastating line and skipped past the remaining defenders to score an outstanding try under the posts. Eady converted to give North a commanding 17-0 lead with less than 25 minutes of the game remaining.

Heaton Moore then threw everything at the visiting team in the hope of getting something out of the game. North were camped deep inside their own half while the home team launched attack after attack. North’s defence rose to the challenge and every player on the visiting team put in a mammoth defensive effort to maintain their lead. Winger Aaron Duoba was outstanding during this period and put in several excellent tackles.

North were being penalised close to their own line and Moore were awarded several penalties within 10 metres of the try line in a short space of time. Captain Gary Pugh was always in the thick of the action and was yellow carded for slowing the ball down and North were down to 14 men, were under immense pressure and had lost their inspirational leader.

Moore continued to batter the North line and used their competent rolling maul in an attempt to put some points on the board. Once again North stood firm with Ian Thompson and Sam Walsh excelling during this period. Moore forced a scrum on North’s 5 metre line and had the advantage of an extra man in the pack. But North’s front row of Tony Donley, Luke Corrigan and Dave McCarrick and the rest of the pack managed to push the Moore scrum off the ball allowing Scott Danby, who made the game look so easy in difficult conditions to launch a huge kick into the oppositions half and relieve the pressure.

Full credit to Heaton Moore who continued to battle and managed to score a try with almost the last play of the game to make the final score 17-5. North had faced an extremely stern test and had come through it. Every visiting player had magnificent games and the Hayneswood Engineering Ltd man of the match award was shared amongst the team.