Ponteland enjoy ultimate rugby afternoon at Kingston Park
Last Saturday was yet another memorable day for two of our Club Connection Teams as Kingston Park played host to the County Cup semi-final between Ponteland and Blyth.
Last season Ponteland sold the most tickets out of any club in the North East, meaning that therefore they won the Ultimate Rugby Prize of getting to make Kingston Park their home ground for the day.
Club Connections Ambassador Paul Walker put in an outstanding effort in promoting the Falcons within his club and elected that Kingston Park would be a great venue for their semi-final game.
The two clubs managed to make it a full club day in fact with the junior sides of the club take to the pitch in the morning to face off against each other. The Under 7s, 8s and 11s put on an entertaining display with some fantastic rugby taking place, just before the miserable weather began to move in.
All those involved had a fantastic time and loved taking up their opportunity to play on the pitch and possibly enjoyed getting their pictures taken in the tunnel and at their favourite players pegs in the changing room even more!
The main event kicked off at 2pm with a couple of hundred spectators filling the east stand making plenty of noise in the miserable conditions.
On paper the game was always going to be a tight affair with Ponteland playing their league rugby one tier above Blyth, however this didn’t stop Blyth knocking out Medicals in the previous round, a team who also play in Durham / Northumberland One.
Blyth came flying out of the blocks, getting the game’s opening try within minutes of kick off. The first half was very closely fought but it was Blyth who came into the break two tries to one up leading 14-8 thanks to the accurate place kicking from centre Sutherland.
The second half was similarly as close with the teams exchanging the lead on several occasions in increasingly difficult conditions. However, a late kick from fly-half Michael Searle insured the home team progressed into the Cup final winning 25-24 after what was a thrilling semi-final. Ponteland will now progress to play either Novos or Whitley Bay Rockcliff in the final.
Following the game Paul Walker said, “On a cold blustery afternoon the opportunity to play such an evenly contested game on the Kingston Park pitch with all the trimmings was a fantastic opportunity for most of the players from both sides to experience the extra factor. I thoroughly enjoyed the nail biter of a game and so many of those involved from both clubs voiced their approval afterwards to myself.”
Newcastle Falcons would like to thank Paul Walker and everyone at Ponteland rugby club for their fantastic support of the Club Connections Scheme and the club over the past 16 months and we wish Ponteland every success in the rest of their season.
Ponteland Team
1 Lee Coulthard 2 Cameron Bell 3 Simon Grant 4 Jonathan Livingstone Evans 5 Robert Charlton 6 Joseph Leiserach 7 Chris Searle 8 Courtney West 9 Luke Bailey 10 Michael Searle 11 Sam Walton 12 Dan Marcus 13 Joe Probert 14 Jonathan Murphy 15 Luke Chick 16 Ian Grieve 17 Richard Moller 18 Chris Freer 19 Sean Bettison 20 Adam Suppan 21 James Shiels
Blyth Team
1 K Rose 2. K. Norris 3. L.Dunwoodie 4. D.Awcock 5. G.Smith 6. S. Long 7.D. Langdown 8. W.Davie 9.A Smithson 10. C.Brookes 11. J Grey 12.L Allen 13. G Sutherland 14. Rees 15.O Jarvis 16. Kelk 17. Charlton 18. Walsh 19. Bradwell 20. O’Neill
If you would like any further details on the Club Connections Scheme or how to get your club involved please contact Andrew Matson on 0191 214 2836 or email andrew.matson@newcastle-falcons.co.uk
