Sat 9 Nov 2019, 14:15
Newbold returned to action after a week’s break to play Dudley who arrived at Parkfield Road currently in 2nrd place in the league. The game was to be played in wet and windy conditions in what turned out to be a hard-fought battle between two well-matched sides, writes Phil Fereday.
Before kick-off, both sides lined up and observed a minute silence for all the heroes who lost their lives serving the country.
The game started with both sides kicking for territory before a knock-on by the visitor’s give the Bold a scrum just inside Dudley’s half this was well won by the Bold and fed out to flyhalf Dan Obrien who did a kick pass out to the touchline to find winger James McGill who after making ground kicked ahead and touch down in the corner the conversion was missed so 5-0 after 6 mins of play. On the restart, it was Dudley’s turn to try and find a way through Newbold’s well-organised defence and during this period Newbold were reduced to 14 men after a yellow card was shown but still the visitors could not find a way through and it was Newbold who finally won back possession to clear the line. The next score came after some strong carries by the home forwards Rudi Reid and Ben Dawes breaking the visitor’s line and making the hard metres. Dudley were penalised and Dan Obrien stepped up to kick it from 40 metres out 8-0 after 30 mins. This was the only scoring of the first half in which Newbold were the dominant side in a bruising contest.
Newbold started the second half and soon were pressing for another score with the hard-working back row winning good breakdown ball No 8 Wes Hallam being prominent. The Bold pounded away at Dudley’s line but were unable to find a way through only having an unsuccessful penalty kick to show for all their efforts. After weathering the attacking storm from the Bold, the away side came back into the game and after a yellow card was given to a Newbold player, they got on the score sheet with a penalty kick awarded in front of the post. 8-3 after 65 mins. On the restart playing with 14 men, the Bold were still able to keep the visitors at bay. Josh Cooke playing at full-back was solid under the high ball all game often returning it with interest. The game-changer came when another Newbold player was given a yellow card. Now down to 13 men and after some gallant defensive work, Newbold were not able to stop Dudley using the extra men advantage to score in the corner. This score was converted 8-10 after 75 mins. Newbold now back up to 14 men threw everything at Dudley trying to get a score they badly deserved but it was not to be. From a breakaway Dudley were awarded a penalty between the post that was successful and the final whistle blew. It had been a gritty team performance from all 18 players that deserved a better result.
