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Consett end unbeaten leaders' record
David Coulter15 Feb - 23:26
Second team recover from slow start to defeat West Hartlepool Stags 31-22.
Unbeaten league leaders West Hartlepool Stags were stopped in their tracks by a resolute Consett second string.
Inspired by man of the match James Herdman who scored a hat-trick of tries, Consett fought back from a sluggish 10 minute spell to record maximum points.
It looked like Consett had travelled badly and found themselves 10 points behind after just six minutes, Hartlepool touching down in the third and sixth minutes.
But that lead was halved on the quarter hour with Tom Ball getting Consett up and running for the afternoon.
The visitors went into the break leading after Herdman scored the first of his three tries on 33 minutes, Johno Robinson's successful conversion key in nudging his team ahead.
A spell of indiscipline after the restart threatened to ruin Consett's good work getting back in the game, Dale Raine falling foul of the referee on two minutes and Craig Bannatyne joining him in the sin bin eight minutes later.
Sandwiched in between the yellow cards was a third West try, again unconverted, as they went ahead again at 15-12.
But Consett roared back and put the game out of reach of their hosts, Herdman regaining the advantage with a further try, again converted by Robinson.
Matty Varley stretched the lead to nine points with a 68th minute try, and Herdman capped a great individual performance with six minutes remaining to put the result beyond doubt. Robinson again converted as Consett went 31-15 ahead.
There was a consolation converted try from West on 76 minutes but they it came too late to mount a comeback and they were left tasting defeat in the league for the first time this season.
While Herdman rightly took the spotlight for his three tries, he was pushed for the man of the match honour by teammate Tom Wealleans who starred throughout. The game was also notable for the senior debut of 18-year-old Aston Cartmell.
Inspired by man of the match James Herdman who scored a hat-trick of tries, Consett fought back from a sluggish 10 minute spell to record maximum points.
It looked like Consett had travelled badly and found themselves 10 points behind after just six minutes, Hartlepool touching down in the third and sixth minutes.
But that lead was halved on the quarter hour with Tom Ball getting Consett up and running for the afternoon.
The visitors went into the break leading after Herdman scored the first of his three tries on 33 minutes, Johno Robinson's successful conversion key in nudging his team ahead.
A spell of indiscipline after the restart threatened to ruin Consett's good work getting back in the game, Dale Raine falling foul of the referee on two minutes and Craig Bannatyne joining him in the sin bin eight minutes later.
Sandwiched in between the yellow cards was a third West try, again unconverted, as they went ahead again at 15-12.
But Consett roared back and put the game out of reach of their hosts, Herdman regaining the advantage with a further try, again converted by Robinson.
Matty Varley stretched the lead to nine points with a 68th minute try, and Herdman capped a great individual performance with six minutes remaining to put the result beyond doubt. Robinson again converted as Consett went 31-15 ahead.
There was a consolation converted try from West on 76 minutes but they it came too late to mount a comeback and they were left tasting defeat in the league for the first time this season.
While Herdman rightly took the spotlight for his three tries, he was pushed for the man of the match honour by teammate Tom Wealleans who starred throughout. The game was also notable for the senior debut of 18-year-old Aston Cartmell.
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