Newark Rugby produced a fantastic second half to secure victory
Saturday Dec 17
Midlands Two East North
A late try earned Newark a deserved victory at Loughborough thanks to Alex Scott’s memorable score, the full-back hacking the ball on from near halfway and then winning the race to touch down.
The win (only the second on the road this season) lifts Newark into third place at the Christmas break, six behind second-placed Southwell and eight off leaders Melbourne.
A win looked unlikely when Newark turned round 17-5 down having conceded three tries in a poor opening half lifted only by the first of two tries from Dan Mackie.
Newark found momentum after half-time and showed they had the better finishers as centres Billy Charles and Mackie, again, helped level the scores at 20-20.
Scott’s match winner came in the closing stages following a strong period of pressure from Loughborough.
Newark first kept the home team at bay before No 8 Dave Garland led a breakaway and followed up by kicking the ball up field.
Scott followed up by outracing the Loughborough cover to hack the ball on before sprinting to claim the crucial score, fly half Matt Law converting.
Law gained Loughborough’s man-of-the-match award for his overall play and brave tackling.
Newark had gone into the match fielding an untried backline yet they eventually prospered as the pace outdid a big Loughborough team who had forged a 17-5 lead by the interval, scoring three tries.
The match changed direction when a counter-attack by Scott, backed up by captain Tom Coen, set up Newark’s position from which Charles burst clear for the second try. Law converted to cut Loughborough’s lead to 12-17.
A penalty eased Loughborough ahead to 12-20 before Mackie surprised the home defence to score Newark’s third try near the hour mark.
Newark gained confidence from their renewed pressure and first forced a penalty which Law kicked before Scott and co combined for the winning try late on.
The only negative from Newark’s seventh win in 11 league games was a worrying knee injury for flanker Jaymie Duncan who had to be helped off.
Overall, it was a very positive afternoon. Some recent Newark teams would not have recovered from a half-time deficit of 17-5.
Newark coped with the problems of fielding another changed line up from the previous week.
Among the changes was a new centre pairing of Mackie and Charles due to the absence of Aloesi Waqalevu and Chaz Dixon who had featured in the win over Kesteven.
To complete the new-look Scott started at full-back with James Stark and Max Chapple on the wings. In the pack, there was also a recall for Harry Pick at prop. Backing up off the bench were forwards Olly Brown, Ed Poulson and Ash Bagga.
If the speedsters provided the tries, Pick was among the unheralded forwards, led by captain Coen, who fought off bigger opponents.
All round it was an encouraging away win to finish the first half of the campaign.
Team: Scott; Stark, Charles, Mackie, Chapple; Law, Clark; Dunning, Huddlestone, Pick, Statham, Boyd, Duncan, Coen (capt), Garland.
Subs: Brown, Poulson, Bagga.
Tries: Mackie (2), Charles, Scott.
Conversions: Law (2), Law.
Scoring sequence: 0-5 (Lufbra try), 5-5 (Mackie try), 5-10 (Lufbra try), 5-17 (Lufbra try & con) half time; 12-17 (Charles try, Law con), 12-20 ( Lufbra pen), 17-20 (Mackie try), 20-20 (Law pen), 27-20 (Scott try, Law con).