Knights 59 Sedgley Park 7

The Knights returned to Castle Park in emphatic style with a convincing pre-season victory over National League two side Sedgley Park.

Griff included four loanees in his squad of twenty-seven and made a handful of changes to the XV that started vs Hull RUFC a week earlier. The home side did not dither in stamping their authority on the tie as, with just over a minutes gone, prop WillGriff John barged over for his first try in Knights colours. Dougie Flockhart adding the extras with many fans still making their way from the bar.

Sedgley Park did exert early pressure of their own and, in idyllic rugby conditions, spun the ball around impressively. Unfortunately for the visitors, the Knights capitalized well any loose play and registered again soon after. Andy Bulumakau showed great skill post tackle to win the ball on the floor and flick possession to Flockhart. The winger quickly handed on to Paul Jarvis who put his foot down at galloped home.

Arguably the game’s finest moment came on the quarter hour mark. It looked as if the Knights had touched down after Flockhart hard collected a long miss pass from Declan Cusack but the touch judge deemed the Scotsman to have stepped in touch. Play was brought back for a Knights penalty, which was put to the corner. Following a solid catch and drive line out play was brought in field before being switched blind where speedster Glen Kendo lay in wait to collect and race over.

The Knights went on the attack again almost immediately after the restart. Ben Hunter broke free in midfield following some nice passing interplay, the hooker found Latu Makaafi on his shoulder who fought off a would be tackler to score.

Sedgley Park continued to test the Knights defence in the first half and enjoyed lengthy spells in possession. The Knights refused to yield however and the side’s went into the break with Donny leading 28-0.

Griff made full use of his whole squad and players switched on and off throughout the eighty minutes. Whilst it meant a slightly interrupted flow to the game a number of players made very positive impacts from the bench.

It did not take the Knights long to add to their score after the interval. Richard List made a telling carry to get close to the Park line and quickly recycled ball created space for flanker Matt Heaton to surge over.

The Knights set piece looked solid for most of the afternoon and Falcons lock forward Glen Young demonstrated what a threat he can be at the line out. A successful catch and drive from within the Sedgley 22m provided the next score with Joe Sproston, playing at number eight, given the credit. Flockhart successfully struck the conversion to make it a perfect seven out of seven for the winger before making way for Tyson Lewis.

The latter stages of the game saw the intensity level fall slightly but the Knights continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Ben Hunter and Bevon Armitage both registered around a score for loanee flanker Jack Barnard.

The visitors were rewarded for their undying determination when Jamie Harrison reacted first to a loose pass in midfield. The winger collected possession at full tilt before showing impressive pace to cross under the posts. Rhodri Carlton-Jones added the extras.

The Knights have now racked up an impressive 127 points in two pre-season fixtures; conceding just seven. They will face a sterner opposition next Saturday however as we welcome Blaydon RFC to Castle Park.

Match Statistics

Starting XV; 15) Paul Jarvis, 14) Dougie Flockhart, 13) Andy Bulumakau, 12) Mat Clark, 11) Will Hurrell, 10) Dec Cusack, 9) Michael Heaney, 1) Jack Bergmanas, 2) Ben Hunter, 3) WillGriff John, 4) Glen Kenworthy, 5) Glen Young (Falcons), 6) Latu Makaafi 7) Michael Hills ©, 8) Ollie Stedman

Replacements; 16) Richard List, 17) Ted Stagg,18) Jake Armstrong,19) Harry Betts (L’boro), 20) Bevon Armitage, 21) Tyson Lewis, 22) Sam Edgerley, Blank) Joe Sproston, Blank) Brad Field, Blank) Josh Sharp (L’boro), Blank) Matt Heaton (Otley), Blank) Jack Barnard (Carnegie). All Used.

Tries; John 1’, Jarvis 10’, Kenworthy 15’, Makaafi 22’, Heaton 43’, Sproston 49’, Hunter 55’, Barnard 62’, Armitage 74’
Conv; Flockhart 1’, 10’, 15’, 22’, 43’, 49’ Cusack 62’,
Pens;
Tries; Jamie Harrison 64’
Conv; Rhodri Carlton-Jones 64’