DURFC suffer agonising defeat against local rivals

The Racecourse played host to a thrilling game of rugby on Wednesday afternoon which went right to the wire, as Team Durham eventually lost 13-10 to visitors Newcastle in the BUCS Northern Premier A Division.
Persistent rain had forced the fixture to be moved from its original location at Durham City, yet despite conditions the well-drilled sides put on a high class display in front of a considerable crowd.
Durham started brightly, and had the chance to nudge ahead in the opening minutes – fly half Sam Watkinson narrowly missing a penalty from not far outside the Newcastle twenty-two. And up to the half hour mark the Palatinates piled on sustained pressure, particularly in their forward play led by flanker Alex Waddingham. But the defensive line of the visitors stood firm, didn’t panic and despite numerous attempts the hosts were unable to break through. When Newcastle eventually cleared their lines and their left winger was dragged into touch, out of frustration a brief scuffle followed and there was definitely potential for players from both teams to end up in the sin bin. The referee’s cards however remained in his pocket, and the scores stayed level.
The deadlock was finally ended just a few minutes before the half was up, with Newcastle’s full back taking advantage of a regulation penalty. Durham number 10 Watkinson struck the upright with a penalty of his own a minute later, yet at the half time whistle the game remained poised at 3-0.
After the break though, Newcastle came out firing, with Australian fly half Ed Yarneton looking particularly dangerous. Ten minutes into the second period Newcastle saw their pressure pay off as inside centre Rainey found a gap and charged through several tackles to score. This try being converted, the home side found themselves trailing 10-0 and it seemed they would have their work cut out for them to get three points from their North East rivals. On his third attempt Watkinson put over a penalty from close range, and the boys in purple almost had a try themselves shortly afterwards, but handling became a problem and they fell just short with a knock-on. Newcastle soon made it 13-3 with another penalty and the hosts were once again up against it and trailing by ten points.
The match began to get sloppy towards the end as fatigue set in, and several injuries on both sides meant it also became fairly ‘stop-start’ but these interruptions allowed Durham to regroup and with time running out they scored a stunning try; Collingwood left winger Rory Price eventually touching down out wide. The move came after a clinical phase of running rugby from the Durham backs led by Hild Bede number 15 James Crozier, and after several offloads in the tackle and Crozier himself catching a ball after seemingly knocking it on, Price slid through for a well deserved five points. Sam Watkinson then produced a magic conversion from the touchline and suddenly with just seconds left on the clock, at 13-10 the Palatinates were within three points of Newcastle.
The visitors however kicked deep from the restart and to run through a try from so far inside their own half was ultimately too big a task for Durham. Despite managing to turn the ball over, another knock on signalled full time.
The hosts were understandably deflated after the final whistle – it was a low-scoring game where for the most part, two formidable defences effectively cancelled each other out and the points could have gone either way. Arguably too, had penalty and scrum decisions gone Durham’s way, the outcome may well have been altered. On the back of this performance they undoubtedly deserved more from the game and on another day they could well have done. Mention must also be given to Sam Crozier and Alex Waddingham, who both put in outstanding performances for the entire eighty minutes. Hopefully they can continue in the same vein when Team Durham travel to Nottingham next week, and look for their first away victory of the current campaign.