Saturday 13th. September 2008
Blyth 17pts Whitby l2pts
Captained by scrum half Tony Smithson and with Chris Grey making his debut on the right wing, Blyth began their league programme with a hard earned win over difficult opponents Whitby. Despite the very warm and humid weather, the pitch was heavy, but reflected the excellent work during the closed season by the ground committee.
Blyth could not have had a better start, with fly half Graeme Sutherland slotting home a penalty after only 3 minutes. Although Blyth began well enough with several promising moves, they seemed tense as if over anxious to impress coaches Joe McDonnell and Carl Hayman, both All Blacks, who were watching together with Newcastle Falcons ex-Whitby player, Jamie Noon.
A surging run by centre Jason Smith nearly led to a try and a fine handling move which resulted in full back Steve Hall touching down was controversially ruled out for a forward pass. When Blyth eventually stretched their lead, Hall was again involved; his pass releasing centre Scott Robinson for a try. Sutherland kicked the conversion and Blyth arrived at the break 10-0 ahead.
Instead of pressing home their advantage, Blyth went to sleep at the start of the second half and some dreadful tackling allowed veteran Whitby winger, Harry Pinder, to score in the right hand corner. As Blyth countered they were caught flat at the back and on two occasions might have paid dearly as the Whitby backs showed their pace. Despite Blyth going close on several occasions, it was Whitby who edged ahead with a try by Number 8 Mick Latus, with hooker Steve Allen converting for a 10 - 12 lead.
In the second half Blyth used all their substitutes tactically and the fresh legs paid off in the final 15 minutes. A sustained attack from Blyth had Whitby on their heels and this time it was Robinson the provider as full back Hall accepted his pass before crashing over the line. Hall then converted his own try to give Blyth a 17-10 lead. Whitby made desperate attempts to raise their game, hut were stifled by the home defence who successfully ran down the clock.
After the game, coach Joe Miller said "Let's not get carried away. It was a good win against a useful side and we showed good team spirit in achieving it. We are more a work in progress rather than the finished article, but hopefully we are building a platform for better things ahead." The players voted back row Wayne Davie as `Man of the Match'.
TV cameras will be at Blyth's training session on Tuesday Sept. 23rd as the club seeks to raise it's profile. Before then, next Sat. Sept. 20th, they travel to Chester-le-Street for a league match. Kick off 3pm.
Saturday 20th. September 2008
Chester-le-Street 0pts Blyth 53pts
On one of the hottest days of the year Blyth destroyed their opponents to the tune of 53-0 at Riverside Park. It is true that Chester are not expected to be one of the front runners in the division, but Blyth could only deal with what was in front of them, and this they did with clinical efficiency.
The visitors had the bonus of an early strike when a dropped ball led to winger Chris Grey crossing the try line in the third minute with fly half Graeme Sutherland converting for a 7-0 lead. For a while it looked as if Chester might make a game of it, but good work from wing forward Liam Stoker put fellow back row Wayne Davie in, Sutherland converting for 14-0. It was already beginning to look like a damage limitation exercise for the home side: a penalty from Sutherland and a brilliant solo try from full back Steve Hall giving Blyth a 22-0 half time lead.
Most of the second period was played in Chester’s half as Blyth continued to dominate the ponderous looking home side, with scrum half Tony Smithson sending them on their way with an opportunist try which Sutherland again converted. A tremendous run by centre Andy Dunn which took him almost to the try line saw Stoker on hand to receive the pass and ground the ball to make the score 34-0. Barry Smith replaced Andy Dunn and the one way traffic continued with one of the best handling moves of the match resulting in a second try for Hall with Sunderland again converting to take the score to 41-0. Blyth showing good fitness levels, kept up the pace and further tries came from winger Callum Bradwell and second row Craig Turnbull with a conversion from Sutherland.
There was time for centre Andy Barker and hooker Tom Barrett to come on making their first team debuts before Durham referee Mike Hodgson brought proceedings to a close. Blyth’s forwards worked hard throughout the 80 minutes, winning plenty of ball for the backs. A number of tries involved several players in the build up and overall, despite the heat and lack of match practice, the visitors looked very sharp.
Of the Blyth coaches Joe Miller thought it was an excellent team display, while man of few words New Zealander, Joe McDonnell admitted being “well pleased”. Man of the match was wing forward Liam Stoker.
Saturday 27th. September 2008
Blyth 70pts South Tyneside College 5pts
Blyth made it three wins out of three when, having demolished Chester-le-Street last week 53-0, they went even better thrashing South Tyneside College 70-5. This keeps Blyth on top of the league and while it is still early days, one thing is very clear – any side facing them had better be prepared to play all out for 80 minutes as the home side demonstrated their excellent fitness.
Blyth struck early with a try in the second minute from hooker Martin Stephenson made by full back Steve Hall. A second from fly half Graeme Sutherland put in by centre Andy Dunn made it 10-0; but South Tyneside halved the lead when, on one of their rare sorties into Blyth’s half, second row Dave McKenzie touched down. Further tries from Sutherland and Stephenson, with Sutherland adding a penalty and a conversion gave Blyth a comfortable 25-5 lead at the interval.
As in their previous two games, Blyth took their time to get going in the second half, but once they did the floodgates opened. Further tries came from Hall, scrum half Tony Smithson, prop Nick Fraser, second row David Baxter, wingers Callum Bradwell and Chris Grey, and substitute back row Steve Long. Sutherland weighed in with a further five conversions to round off the scoring; by which time South Tyneside looked bedraggled and outclassed.
Blyth’s ‘man of the match’ was fly half Graeme Sutherland.
RFU.com 
Clubs Near Me
