Winlaton's good form continued with another win against relegation rivals Houghton. The win is the 4th in the last 6 matches and defeats only came against promotion candidates Ponteland and Medicals.

Again player/coach Adam Falkner bagged another try to take his tally to 7 in the last 6 matches and he is hitting form at the right time.

The game was played on a very wet and heavy pitch which didn't lend itself to flowing rugby, but the first 30 minutes belonged to Houghton in truth. Playing downhill they moved the ball well and tried to avoid a forward battle against the always physical home pack. When Winlaton did have possession McBernie playing on the back row destroyed everything in the ruck as always with the home forwards being ineffective against him. However he walked a tight line with the legality of his play and eventually he would pay for it.

Houghton took a deserved lead when the inside centre drifted then straightened to find a hole in midfield and streaked away to score under the posts with the conversion added (0-7) and then the home side transgressed to allow another 3 pts to be added. (0-10)

Things were frustrating but Winlaton had shown enough to suggest they were still in the game but needed to cut out the errors which were costing them dear.

They did just that 5 mins from the half when a series of mauls put Houghton under pressure and with ref's arm out for a penalty advantage Ian Fleming pounced to touchdown with a sneak over from a ruck. (5-10)

Houghton seemed to panic, McBernie, always a nuisance but always testing the ref's interpretation of the Laws, transgressed once too often and was sin binned from the kick-off. Allison kicking the 3 pts. (8-10), and when Houghton again went offside 2 mins later Allison scored once more with the last kick of the half to take Winlaton into the break with an unlikely lead of 11-10.

The second half was all Winlaton, Allison back to his imperious best at 10 kept Houghton deep in their own half and with fewer mistakes the home team managed to build an excellent platform. Some curious refereeing decisions and some intrepid defence held Winlaton at bay but eventually Falkner darted over for the score with the conversion added. (18-10)

Club Captain Gary Allison making his way back from broke ribs was on the pitch and looking to add to his rehabilitation but managed to bring down the scrum half from a quick tap with a stray leg and Winlaton were down to 14 men. To no avail though as another penalty was added to take the score to 21-10 and a good home win, but Winlaton need to take the chances on offer and lift their game if they are to beat next weeks visitors Blyth, to continue their run and avoid relegation.

MoM

Kevin Allison