Upper Eden have been specialising in close games in Regional 2 North after a 10-10 draw and an 11-10 defeat.
The pattern continued at Stockton where the Cumbrians were beaten 15-13.
The pitch was very wet and heavy but that didn’t prevent the hosts from scoring an early converted try after they moved the ball wide following several phases.
From the re-start the visitors put several phases of play together with Rob Dent and James Birkbeck both effective in taking the ball into the heart of the Stockton defence.
The ball was then fed to Fin Rose who made good ground to cross the line for an unconverted Eden try.
The next period of the game was fairly even with both teams testing each other out in and around the middle of the field.
Stockton did manage to launch several attacks into the Eden half but met solid defence from the visitors with James Birkbeck and Josh Winder both effective at the breakdown.
When Stockton were awarded a penalty they elected to kick deep into Eden’s 22 but excellent work at the line-out from Dent to steal the opposition’s ball enabled Eden to clear their lines.
The home team were quick to launch another attack and eventually breached the visitors defence to score an unconverted try.
Eden were dominating the set scrum and line-out with good work from Dent, Matthew Sanderson and Tom Mooney. Sam Birkbeck and Winder were ever present and effective in defence with both making solid first up tackles.
The Pennine Park men were putting some good phases of play together, but final passes went awry due to the wet slippery condition of the ball.
Just before half-time Will Birkbeck made good ground into the hosts 22 but the ball was adjudged forward in the ensuing ruck and they turned round with Stockton 12-5 ahead.
From the re-start the visitors were on the attack putting the home side under pressure. A neat box kick from Ollie Rose put the hosts on the back foot, however they were able to retain possession and move the ball into Eden’s half where they were awarded a penalty in front of the posts and were able to extend their lead.
The introduction of Jordan Newitt, Alexander Darroch and Issac Dent galvanised Eden and they launched several attacks on the Stockton try line.
Sam Birkbeck drove down the blindside from a dominant scrum and was well supported by the Eden forwards. The home side’s defence was strong, but the visitors were awarded a penalty for infringing at the breakdown, and Ollie Rose made no mistake.
From the restart Eden were quick on the attack and were putting the home side under all sorts of pressure but they managed to hack the ball out of their defence up to the 22 metre line,
Sam Edgar gathered the loose ball and fed Darroch who cleverly created space to pass back to Edgar who had a clear run to try the line.
As Edgar caught the return pass he juggled the ball in the air to maintain control at all times. He touched down to score a perfectly good try, but the referee disallowed the score to the amazement of both the home and travelling supporters.
From the ensuing scrum the Stockton loose forward infringed and was awarded a yellow card.
Eden moved the ball well through the hands eventually finding Will Birkbeck who made good yards to cross the line but without the conversion they fell short by two points.
However this was a greatly improved performance from the Pennine Park men who have worked hard in training over the past weeks. They can rightly feel hard done by to lose a game which they dominated in the second half and registered a perfectly good try only to have it disallowed.
“A youthful Upper Eden Boars faced stiff opposition against an experienced Stockton Saracens team and lost 29-10.
The home team proved too strong for the Boars on a heavy wet pitch. Try scorers for the Boars were Paul Ellwood and George Edgar.
It was great to see Robbie Hindson return to playing and have an excellent game.
