Alnwick U12s kicked off their rugby season on Sunday at a friendly festival organised by Whitley Bay Rockliffe RFC.

Novocastrians scored an early try in the first game, but Alnwick came back fighting, with Ollie Thew leveling the scores. Unfortunately Novos scored again and the team narrowly lost their first game.

Next came a very tough encounter against Tynedale, who dominated the first half of the game. Alnwick however showed incredible defense in the second half, meaning the 3-0 score didn’t increase any further.

The team was then very equally matched against their hosts Rockliffe. Notable performances were made from Levi Haughie and Harvey Dunn, whose impressive tackling won many balls, resulting in a further score from Ollie Thew (with an impressive dive over the try line). This was quickly followed by another try from talented scrum half Joseph Ball, meaning the Alnwick team achieved a creditable draw.

In the penultimate game against Wallsend, Alnwick had possession of the ball most of the time. Jack Plumley and Josh Embleton rucked excellently, driving hard over the ball. Tom Clark also mauled to good effect, fast becoming a master of ripping the ball from his opponent, once scoring a try in the process. After a lightening quick run down the wing, Joseph Ball scored another try, which left Alnwick again finishing with the scores level, with hard lessons learnt about utilizing the width of the pitch.

Finally the team faced Gosforth. This was possibly the most exciting game of their tournament, with 110% effort given from both sides; the game could have gone either way. Taylor Tuer consistently made good ground, as did James Watson, whose skillful right foot often found the space to kick the ball to safety, with James Anderson always well placed and ready to receive. The game ended in a hard fought 0-0 draw.

All in all a good days rugby and a very promising start to the season was made.

If you are interested in giving junior rugby a go, please do come along on a Sunday morning to Alnwick Rugby Club between 10.30 and 12.00, all standards (including beginners) are most welcome.