DURFC’s Unbeaten Run Comes To An End

Durham University 19 – Newcastle Falcons A 21

Durham University 1st XV were denied their 35th victory in a row by an injury time Newcastle Falcons penalty at Durham City last on Monday night.

The match had been an intense and physical affair but in the end it came down to a brilliant 40 meter penalty to win it for the visitors.

The match had begun positively for Durham with pressure and accurate place kicking from Mike Ward giving them a three point lead.

This was followed by a try from Joe Binns who capitalised on a brilliant run from second row Matt Steele.

However, a strong Newcastle Falcons driving maul lead to a penalty try which brought the score line to 8-7. A further penalty from the boot of Mike Ward gave the Palatinates an 11-7 lead at half-time.

In the second half the Falcons responded with a series of driving mauls which Durham repelled thus nullifying their only real attacking threat.

This was followed by the moment of the match were several phases of Durham pressure saw centre Danny Holmes against Newcastle front five forwards.

Holmes burst through the gap and offloaded to his centre colleague Tom Shiel who finished off the try from 30 meters out.

The game then entered a more scrappy phase where and Newcastle scored from a powerful scrum which was followed by a Ward penalty to make it 19-14.

The Newcastle scrum half then capitalised from further strong Falcons scrummaging to tie the scores at 19-19.

The continuity of the Palatinates attack was somewhat damaged by the changes being made to the team, with the those who had played for England students on Friday coming off to rest and replacement fly-half Sam Watkinson suffering a painful looking cut above the eye, Durham played the remainder of the match without a fly-half.

The Falcons piled on the pressure and despite the best efforts of those on the pitch, clinched the game with a long range penalty.

In spite of the obvious disappointment of losing their first game in 2 years Durham can take many positives from this match.

Firstly as a friendly it will not affect their standing in BUCS. Secondly it provided much needed game time against a strong Falcons A team ahead of their crunch semi-final match against Southern league leaders Bath.

Finally the team that finished the match included many freshers who will no doubt have learnt a great deal in such a high level encounter.

For more information on results and fixtures visit: http://www.durfc.co.uk/