New Brighton secure brilliant win

Team Sheet:1. Mark Dorrington, 2. Phil Buckley, 3. Anthony Probert, 4. Paul Campbell, 5. Steve Fox, 6. Jon Harris, 7. Andy Moore, 8. Kati Tuipulotu, 9. Ali Child, 10. Dan Naylor, 11. Alan Hesketh, 12. Chris Dale, 13. Gareth Simpson, 14. Lee Brogan, 15. Jim Yarranton,

Substitutes: 16.Jez Lamb, 17. Colin Jones,18. Ian kennedy.

With no wins in four previous league matches, the Blues were desperate to get off the mark against a powerful Kendal side boasting a 100% record. The Cumbrian outfit had five kiwis in their squad and, after the Tongan experience at Hull last week, it was as if New Brighton were on the second leg of a Pacific Island tour! The home side were without Steve Dean, their regular stand off, who was watching with a sling protecting his injured shoulder. Dan Naylor moved into the breach at outhalf and place kicker with veteran Ian Kennedy ready to come on from the subs bench if needed.

It was the visiting side who kicked off into the moderate breeze on a balmy autumnal day with no hint of the drama that was to follow. It was Kendal who were first into their stride with their dangerous looking backs seeing plenty of ball. With the Blues ceding several penalties, Kendal were camped deep in NB territory. From such a penalty, Kendal declined an easy three points and kicked into the corner. From the ensuing maul, stand off Massey Tuhikaraina, who lent his full 12 stone to his pack’s drive, seemed to be the one who claimed the try but brother Patrick failed with the conversion attempt. 0 – 5 to Kendal after just 10 minutes. Now it was the home side who took the initiative with Dan Naylor proving to be an unorthodox but extremely effective stand-in at stand-off and a constant thorn in Kendal’s side. A lovely pass from Naylor provided Dale with the opportunity to show his power, pace and strength to burst through the Kendal line. Only a last ditch tackle in front of the posts prevented a try but an infringement gave Naylor an easy penalty which he converted to reduce Kendal’s lead to 3 – 5 after 15 minutes. The Blues were growing in confidence and dominated up front. Their pack was disrupting the opposition in the set pieces with considerable success. They harried the visiting side into another transgression and Naylor put the home side ahead with a penalty from 35m. With their tails up, the Blues were now playing some wonderful rugby, forwards and backs combined in several flowing moves with many deft off-loads keeping up the forward momentum. It was fitting that a magnificent try in the corner by Hesketh finished an inspirational period of play. This time Naylor just failed with the difficult conversion.
11 – 5 to NB after 21 minutes.

New Brighton continued to dominate but the lively Kendal backline also showed that they could threaten from anywhere on the park. After 30 minutes a melee ended with a Blues body prone on the ground. Referee Dino Maddern was quick to show a red card to Kendal No 6 R. Quarry for stamping. Naylor kicked the goal to bring the score to 14 – 5 to the resurgent home team. NB continued to dominate, an excellent move with Fox, Campbell and Kati to the fore ended within 10m of the Kendal line. The visiting scrum half was always ready to take a quick tap from the several offences ceded by the home side. From such a move, well inside their own half, Kendal managed to give right winger J Ladell enough room to easily beat his man and the full back with pace and swerve to score under the posts from 65m out to give P Tuhikaraina an easy conversion leaving the home side just 2 points clear.

To their credit the New Brighton team refused to submit and hit back with another lovely try, this time Andrew Moore scoring his first for the Blues in his quest to overtake brother James’ impressive try-scoring record at Hartsfield. Naylor’s kick restored the home side’s 9 point advantage at the stroke of half time.

HALF TIME SCORE: New Brighton 21 – 12 Kendal

Just after the restart, Dale was blood binned for about 20 minutes with Kennedy rolling back the years with a cameo appearance at stand off, with Naylor moving into the centre. With the wind at their backs, Kendal kicked effectively to move deep into NB territory. Two excellent line-out steals from Fox enabled Brighton to relieve their line. A scintillating break by Kennedy took play deep into the visitors 22. Another period of excellent play by the home side followed. A lovely short pass from Kennedy and clean Naylor break was stopped just metres from the Kendal line. Buckley was the first of three home players to receive a yellow card, effectively negating their numerical advantage for the rest of the game. Play was now end to end with Massey Tuhikaraina’s sinuous break running out of steam just short of the line and a repeat of the Kennedy/Naylor act finishing with Mulholland’s fingers barely holding on to Naylor’s shorts to keep the Kendal line intact.

After 60 minutes, the Blues were briefly reduced to 13 men when Campbell, who was having a huge game, was sin-binned for joining a ruck from the side. Inevitably, Kendal applied increasing pressure and after 72 minutes were rewarded with a penalty by P Tuhikaraina to bring them within a single score of the heroic home team. The Blues defended desperately, being penned in their own 22 for much of the final minutes of the game. A great tackle by Probert and the defensive work by man-of-the-match Jon Harris epitomised their work ethic. A yellow card for the maturing Brogan for a technical offence brought even more pressure to bear. But Brighton were determined to record their first success and were finally relieved, just 10 metres from their own line, when the referee called time on an excellent game of rugby.

FULL TIME SCORE: New Brighton 21 - 15 Kendal

Coach Steve Dorrington was delighted with the win and the overall performance. He said “I am proud of every single member of the squad. The pack was immense and gave Kendal plenty to think about in the scrums and lineouts. The backline was very creative and generally solid in defence. I also wish to thank our loyal supporters for reponding so well to my request in the programme to give more vocal support for the lads on the park”

New Brighton fans are now looking forward to next Saturday's home match, wondering whether it will be Fiji or Samoa, disguised as Beverley, who will turn up at Hartsfield