Barnard Castle 31 v DMP Elizabethans 3
Festive fizz from impressive Castle

Once again Castle were forced into changes in their starting lineup through injury and unavailability and again they were still able to field a strong side against visitors DMP Elizabethans. Despite their lowly league position Elizabethans are a decent side and Barney knew that they would be in for a tough test in their final league game before Christmas.

Indeed, DMP began brightly and were soon on the scoresheet with a well taken penalty to give them an early lead, 0-3. Barney were quick to hit back though and a great break by Jack Franks (Sponsor: The Old Chapel, Staindrop) saw the ball held up on the DMP line before Ben Parker (Potts Groundworks) was able to dart over from close range. With the conversion narrowly wide Barney had a slender lead, 5-3.

Barney soon doubled their lead with a great break by skipper Ralph Makepeace (D Souter Farrier Services) who offloaded to Elijah Delaidriti (S & RD Parker) who steamed in for a try in the bottom left-hand corner, 10-3. Moments later they added a third try as a great tackle by Matthew Osbourne (Roman Ltd) in the DMP 22 saw Castle camped on the DMP line before James Peareth (Peareth Financial) forced his way over for the try. With the conversion the lead had grown to 17-3 and remained so until half time.

The second half began with a period of stalemate as the two sides cancelled each other out with strong defensive hits. Eventually it was Castle who broke the deadlock as James Peareth shrugged off DMP tackles and powered over from just inside the opposition half. Ralph was once again on target with the extra’s and the lead grew to 24-3.

Soon Ralph was able to add a bit of magic to the proceedings, with the try of the day to round off the scoring, as he finished a mazy run with a deft chip over the DMP defender and then gathered the ball to score a superb individual try. His successful conversion took the score to 31-3 and it was to remain at that until the final whistle despite a number of Barney efforts to add to their total.

The bonus point win rounded-off the year nicely for this young and improving side and takes Barney to fourth in the table ahead of the Christmas break. Back in the clubhouse the opposition named Ralph as man of the match for a sparkling display and match sponsors Bells and Whistle’s (Worleys) and ball sponsor, Nick Raper were thanked for their generous donations to club funds.

The next fixture is at home to Blyth on Saturday 4th January when Castle will be hoping to avenge a narrow defeat that they sustained up at Blyth earlier in the season.
Nick Raper