If they were ever a truer cliché of “it was a game of two halves” then this game was it. The Bold played into the wind in the first half and were soon on the attack with the front row of Ben Dawes, Stu Houghton and Duzza Ziba being prominent driving forward with the hard yards and linking up with the backs but too often either a loose pass or a fumble went to ground stopping the play. Newbold were struggling to get momentum. After another attack came to an end after the Bold gave away a penalty the visitors were able to get into Newbold’s half and set up a platform to score the first converted try of the game 0-7 down after 5 mins of play against the run of play. Newbold then spent a long period in the visitors half trying to break through a determined defence only to see a pass intercepted by the visitor's wing and watch him run 80 meters to score the second converted try of the match 0-14 to the visitors. At this stage Halesonians when in possession looked dangerous but some strong tackling from the Bold notably Ed Scott, Tom Dixon leading the way kept the visitors out. This is how it stayed to half time.
The second half started, and expectations were high that the Bold would soon get on the scoresheet. So, the Bold playing with the wind were soon camped in the visitor’s half. Although both teams were holding their own at scrum time Newbold were winning good line out ball through Dixon and Joss Thompson. During this period the Bold turn down the chance of some very kickable penalties and chancers to get some points on the board. Instead, choosing the option for a kick to touch and the lineout to set up a driving maul this was unsuccessful on a few occasions. Just when it seemed the Bold were unable to get on the scoresheet an interception by Ethan Wookey from inside his own 22 meters enabled him to run the length of the pitch to score Dan Obrien slotted over the easy conversion 7-14. Now in the final quarter of the game there was some fine individual runs from the Bold. Duzza, Sam Thompson and Curtley Bale all making breaks but the Bold were slow to back them up and chancers were lost. What followed in the remaining 8 mins of the game was a constant battering of the visitors try line Rudi Reid being stopped just short but it was Ben Dawes who seemed to be on the end of every effort to get over the try line and being successful twice only for the referee to call it held up. The visitors' defence were desperate and gave away penalty after penalty. A penalty try looked likely as the referee handed out 2 yellow cards to the visitors but it was not to be. The Bold in what was the final play of the game used the extra men advantage and swiftly passing the ball out along the line finally crossed with Manny Sidhu scoring in the corner. So, with no time left it was down to the conversion to decide the outcome of the match. So no pressure or drama then !!
So final cliché “Cometh the hour cometh the man” Up stepped birthday boy Dan Obrien to slot over a magnificent touchline kick to earn Newbold a draw. The final whistle blew not that anyone heard it amongst the home supporters’ cheers of relief.
