Tuesday 12 November 2024 09:01
Newport II 36 – 29 Willenhall 1st XV
The 2nd XV welcomed Willenhall to The Old Showground on a grey but dry Saturday afternoon, having both been promoted from Counties 2 last season an intriguing battle lay ahead.
Minutes silence dutifully observed, Willenhall kicked off, immediately holding up the Newport carrier and earning their first scrum, with a significant weight advantage over the Newport pack Willenhall were in the scrum ascendancy but Newport did well not to concede a penalty and strong defense forced a knock on by Willenhall.
Newport were straight on the attack, moving the ball from touchline to touchline and back again for Parry to break down the wing. Barkers crossfield kick collected by Pugh, a penalty for a high tackle and Newport maintained the pace, Lever tapping quickly and the ball moving through the hands to Bowyer on the wing who stepped inside and was almost over the line himself. Newport snapped into shape, a tip from Heath, a strong carry from Banks, decoy line from Tait and the ball spread wide for Taylor to score in the corner – Newport had found the blueprint to counter Willenhalls size.
Newport piled on the pressure from kick off forcing Willenhall well into their own half yet unfortunately conceding a penalty and gifting an easy exit. Mauling off the lineout, Willenhalls answer to The Beast from The Chase fed Holmes a hand-off sandwich and nearly made it to Newports try-line, but strong linespeed and a turnover penalty snuffed out Willenhalls first real attacking opportunity.
A good lineout drill, carries in midfield from Peregrine and Mayer, quick ball and Lever found Pugh in space, dancing around the Willenhall defensive line and offloading to Parry who beat the first two defenders and had the strength to fend a third, scoring Newports 2nd try.
Willenhall were struggling to cope with the pace of Newports back line, earning a couple more penalties for high tackles, and Barker put Newport into the opposition 22 for a lineout. An accurate throw from Birdy, played off the top to Kendall who hit Peregrine once more, followed by nice interplay between Heath and Holmes who carried hard probing Willenhalls defense. Barker, Pugh and Taylor swung round the corner late, engineering an overload in a tight space to put Taylor in for his second try of the day. Unfortunately Barker had left his kicking boots at home, and was yet to add a conversion to either of Newports tries.
Newport missed the catch at the restart and Willenhall were straight into the attack, earning a penalty it was no surprise to see a tactical masterclass of ‘give it to the biggest lad on the pitch’. Newport were up to the challenge however, strong defense and desperate tackling kept the Willenhall massive at bay, Heath turning over and Lever releasing the pressure with a kick downfield into open space with Bowyer chasing hard.
A penalty against the WIllenhall front row at a scrum underneath Newports posts gave Newport the chance to relieve the pressure, attacking from the lineout, by-now routine interplay between Kendall and Peregrine eventually finding Okeyere who made an immediate impact and charged downfield. A clearance from Willenhall found Taylor deep in midfield, beating the first defender he offloaded to Okeyere, who squeezed a perfect pass between two defenders for Pugh to break, draw the man and feed Humphries for Newports 4th try, under the posts it was a conversion Barker couldn’t miss and Newport had the try bonus point just before half time. Willenhall ended the half with a shot on goal getting their first points of the afternoon. 22-3 at half time.
From the kick off Newport chased hard, forcing a clearance kick which Lever took well and found Heath who carried forward, Levers first attempted box kick was charged down, but Willenhall were slow to react even with a preview of what was to come, after a few phases Lever was accurate with his second attempt a lovely box kick into an empty Willenhall backfield for Barker to collect and score.
Willenhall hit back however, in trademark style strong carries from their pack earnt their first try, excellently converted by the kicker. Newport earnt a penalty from the kick off for their efforts, Barker putting the ball into touch for a lineout on Willenhalls 5 metre. Holmes ordered Okeyere into the lineout from the back line, sent him forward to lift Heath so he could stand at the back, and scooped up the overthrow, crashing over for Newports 6th try. If it were anyone other than Henry orchestrating, you could’ve easily been forgiven for assuming it was a pre-planned move! Barker added the extras.
As the skies darkened and mist set in, handling errors began to creep into Newports game in the final 20 minutes, despite their commanding lead at 36-10. Willenhall were able to apply pressure with the scrum, earning penalties and keeping Newport pinned in the 22. The pressure eventually told, crashing over for their second, and pouncing on an unforced error for their third under the posts! After further scrum pressure, Willenhall had 4 tries, were only 7 points behind with four minutes on the clock and Newport were looking nervous! Penalty to Willenhall, kicked to the corner, another penalty in midfield and of course Willenhall opted for the scrum. It was time for Mayer, Bird, and Banks to get to work! Earning a crucial scrum penalty against the head right when it mattered, Lever cleared the ball away and it was full time! 36-29.
Newport will be wondering how they let a commanding lead almost slip, but well deserved their win with some sensational tries scored. Willenhall however were more than worthy of the two points they will take with them down the M54.
Match report by Ben Turner
