Macmillan Academy travelled to Darlington Rugby Club to face East Durham in what proved to be a physical encounter.



Macmillan Academy vs. East Durham & Houghall

Macmillan Academy travelled to Darlington Rugby Club to face East Durham in what proved to be a physical encounter. Conditions on the day were good however the pitch was still heavy. In the early stages of the game Macmillan Academy was under constant pressure, having to tackle tirelessly to prevent a try being scored. Eventually the defence was broken resulting in a push over try from East Durham.

This was perhaps the wakeup call Macmillan needed to improve the commitment required to grind out a result. Liam Davies yet again showed improvements in his performance, adding some tempo to the game with quick tap penalties and sniping round the fringes of rucks and mauls. Shaun Warriner is now performing strongly on a regular basis and was the stand out player in this win. He carried the ball on several occasions breaking through the defence to set up attacking situations.

As the game progressed Macmillan Academy were dominating possession; however there was no desire to remain composed in pivotal attacking positions. Too many unforced errors resulted in East Durham turning the ball over many times and clearing their lines with useful kicks. With ten minutes to go it looked like Macmillan were heading for a shock defeat, the players dug deep and showed character and belief in their own ability. Ben Dickinson came to life with a dummy switch move resulting in Gran Honzik running a good line in attack breaking the defence to score under the posts.

Macmillan Academy 7 - 5 East Durham & Houghall

With the game now in injury time, as a coach I was yet again hoping for composure to run the clock down and maintain possession. From the kick off Johnathan Hoole popped the ball off to Grant Honzik who committed two defenders and released Josh Clough down the wing. Josh showed a good turn of pace to race away from the defence to score the final try of the game.

>Macmillan Academy 14 - 5 East Durham & Houghall>