Sat 22 Mar 2025
Newbold made the short journey to Fenley Field to take on rivals, Old Laurentians, in an eagerly anticipated local derby. In front of a large crowd, and with local bragging rights at stake, any form going into the game was likely to go out of the window. Newbold kicked off but soon conceded a penalty from which Dan O’Brien took play deep into Newbold’s half. With the home side clearly up for the game, Newbold were forced to defend resolutely as Old Laurentians launched a series of attacks. With Newbold continually falling foul of the referee and conceding a number of penalties, they were kept pinned back in their own 22 before Dan Price opted to kick for goal and give the home side a deserved lead. OLs continued to attack and another penalty was converted by Dan Price to extend the lead. Newbold gradually began to
settle into the game and took play deep into the OL’s 22 where a good take in the lineout by Dan Gilbert, led to a promising break before the home side were able to clear their lines. However, the respite did not last long as a dazzling break from Finn Conway, Lee Lightowler, Jack Toolan and Archie Wade enabled Will Adamson to cross for a fine try and put Newbold on the scoreboard. Newbold continued to be the dominant side as their forwards led by Duzza Ziba, and brothers Fin and Charlie Reed, provided their back line with plenty of possession. However, play became very scrappy as the intensity of the game caused both sides to make a number of errors. Despite being a player short following a yellow card, it was Newbold who scored next. Archie Wade was stopped illegally after taking a quick tap penalty and Nathan Gray added the points with a superb kick from near the 10 metre line. There was still time left for Newbold to receive their second yellow card and to end the half with only 13 players but, more importantly, with a narrow lead.
Old Laurentian’s numerical advantage didn’t last long, as from the kick off for the second half, a high tackle resulted in one of their players receiving a yellow card. With both teams having to reorganise, play understandably became very disjointed. However, a clever, cross-field kick from Dan O’Brien caught Newbold napping and it took excellent defensive play by Will Adamson, ably supported by Ben Nuttall to clear the ball downfield. With OLs conceding a penalty, Nathan Gray was able to extend Newbold’s lead with a successful penalty kick. With Newbold now in the ascendancy, a break by Lee Lightowler, Jamie Mapletoft, Ed Spencer and Will Adamson took play deep into the OL’s half. Following good work by Kyle Smith, Toby Lafferty made a decisive break and a deft flip-pass enabled Joss Thompson to
crash over for a try which was converted by Jamie Mapletoft.
To their credit, OLs never gave up and it took a courageous tackle from Finn Conway to foil an OLs attack following a kick through. However, Newbold were able to see the game out to the delight of their travelling fans who were able to celebrate a 18-6 victory in a game where both sides gave their all.
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