Saturday saw Upper Eden host its first ever home game in Regional North 2 against another newly promoted side in West Hartlepool.
It provided Eden with their second win in a row to start life in the higher level, as they overcame their visitors by 41-10.
The first 10 minutes of the game were evenly contested before a scrum near the halfway line saw John Blue break away and, after gliding through a gap and a couple of dummies later, he raced through to score the first try which was converted by Ollie Bennett.
West Hartlepool then exerted a long period of control and possession and tested Eden strongly in defence. Although they initially held firm Eden did concede when Hartlepool produced an intricate backline move which split the home defence and scored near the posts and convert to level the score.
More defence was required by Eden as Hartlepool pressed but a good turnover on the Eden line changed the feel of the game which then had the hosts on the attack but they squandered several chances to score with last passes frustratingly going to ground.
At half-time the score, remarkably, was still 7-7 and very much all to play for.
After the break Eden started to gain some early momentum and after pressure near Hartlepool’s try line a missed line-out throw allowed Fin Rose to pounce on the loose ball and charge over the defenders to score next to the posts for a simple Bennett conversion.
Penalties to each team then moved the score along to 17-10 and it stayed Saturday saw Upper Eden host its first ever home game in Regional North 2 against also newly promoted West Hartlepool. The first 10 minutes of the game were evenly contested with both teams contesting keenly in attack and defence.
A scrum near the halfway line then saw John Blue break away and after gliding through a gap and a couple of dummies later race through to score the games first try which was converted by Ollie Bennett – 7-0.
West Hartlepool then exerted a long period of control and possession and tested Eden strongly in defence. Eden held firm before Hartlepool as a result of an intricate backline move split the Eden defence and scored near the posts to make the score 7-7.
More defence was required by Eden as Hartlepool pressed for more points but a good turnover on the Eden line changed the feel of the game which then had Eden take a turn at attack but it also then squandered several chances to score with last passes frustratingly going to ground. At halftime the score ended 7-7.
After the break Eden started to gain some early momentum and under pressure near Hartlepool’s try line a missed lineout throw allowed Fin Rose to pounce on the loose ball and charge over the defenders to score next to the posts, 14-7.
Penalties to each team then made the scoreline 17-10 and it stayed that way until about the last 20 minutes of the game from where Eden seemed to hit a switch and ignite in attack.
From a mid field position some slick back and forward interplay saw a second try for Blue who was running a good support line to a popped-up pass. The conversion was successful.
Blue scored again minutes later to complete his hat-trick after a series of phases that had the Eden team combining backs and forwards with control and positive intent.
Eden took further control of the game with more good phase play combining forwards and backs that ended with a strong back-line handling move which created space for Bennett to latch onto and cross over in the corner untouched. He made a good touchline conversion for 38-10.
The final play saw a repeat of the balanced rugby that Eden had played for most of the game and had James Birbeck burst into space from about 40 metres out and steamroll the last defender to touchdown near the posts. Bennett completed a perfect kicking day by landing the extras and sealing his man of the match award.
The scoreline was maybe not a reflection of the closeness of the game, particularly from what was produced in the first half, and was in reality a hard, well-fought contest by both teams but the difference was Eden’s excellent clinical attacking play and strong sound defence that was difficult to breakdown.
- A youthful Upper Eden Boars took on a much more mature second team from West Hartlepool and in a closely contested game they ran our 21-12 winners with tries from man of the match Flyn Longrigg, Thomas Mawson and George Edgar, all converted by Sam Burrell.
