'CRAYOLA PUT ON A GOOD SHOW AS FANS COME OUT IN FORCE'

Crayola RFC entertained a good crowd at Cochrane Park on wednesday as the took on Newcastle Sparrow. A near full strength Crayola side, with the exception of Ian Spafford who got totally and utterly rat-arsed the night before the game (I know it was his birthday and all, but Kangaroo Court?!!), conceded their least points of the season so far. They did however fail to scroe a try, but came close on a few occasions. The Sparrows scored first with a try, assisted by another poor referee, in the 3rd minute. Crayola hit back with a Mark Holmes penalty to make the score 5-3, but as was the case last week against the Ladies, the Sparrows opened up a gap with a quick try. But despite this Crayola came close through James Hinton, which was followed up a a thundering driving maul from the forwards which came inches from the Sparrows line.

All this pressure, however, was not capitalised on, mainly due to knock-ons or the usual dodgy refereeing decision. Ben Duckworth came close to scoring in the corner after chasing a kick through from Mark Holmes after another interception (I'm getting quite good at them!!) but he was just beaten to it by the Sparrows full-back. Crayola were convinced they should have had a try after a kick from James Hinton, which the full-back blatantly didn't ground over the line, and debutant Tom Hartley put the ball down. But surprise surprise, the ref gave a 22 drop-out! Frustration was evident within the Crayola ranks and John took the law into his own hands as an inevitable scuffle occured just before half-time. The half-time score was a very respectable 12-3.

Crayola yet again faced a mountainous slope in the second half (very hilly place Newcastle you know!) and they failed to get into their first half rhythm. The Sparrows and the referee preceeded to slowly run down Crayola, and the only real attack came from an excellent break from centre Jorin Grimsdale, but the move ended with a predictable Andy Magee knock-on! Although they came close to the Sparrows line late on in the game, the Sparrows ran in another 24 points in the second half, running out eventually 34-3 winners. Beaten but not disgraced!

Mark Holmes