Sat 18 Mar 2023
On this the penultimate weekend of the league season, Pavs travelled away (yes again) to Scunthorpe RFC to contest a relegation battle at the foot of Regional North East One. Both clubs have found the RFU dictated move from the Midlands to the North to be extremely challenging, particularly with a view to mileage travelled, indeed, it is also worth mentioning that the four clubs who have been moved, now form the bottom four clubs in the league. No real surprise there then!!
From the kick off, it was clear that this was going to be a hard fought affair, particularly as Pavs had won the reciprocal home fixture. With both teams going at it, on nine minutes the official questionably judged that wing Tom Davies had deliberately knocked on, when to the rest of the players and crowd, it was a clear attempt to intercept and catch the ball with both hands. He then saw fit to bin the luckless Davies and award a penalty try to give Scunthorpe the lead 7-3. Having said this George Billam then narrowed the lead to 7-3 with a penalty, before a sweeping move from a lineout saw the newly restored Tom Davies dive in at the corner and with the Billam extras give Pavs the lead at 10-7. As the game continued Pavs found it increasingly difficult to gain any momentum as they were constantly penalised by the referee in just about every area of the game. This handed the initiative to Scunthorpe who pinned Pavs back every time they threatened to break out with penalty kicks. Four tries were conceded by Pavs before the break as they seemingly battled with sixteen players!! Half time 35-10 to Scunthorpe.
After the break Pavs were resurgent with Ben Taylor rounding of two spectacular attacks and George Billam adding the extras to narrow the lead to 35-24. Mention must be made of the injury sustained by young scrum half Dan Flint following a dangerous clear out at a ruck. As a head to head contact, it was clear that a red card was in order, yet the official saw fit to award only a yellow card much to the chagrin of the Pavs supporters and players. Pavs were then forced to re-arrange their line up with Alex Barton being introduced on the wing and Ben Taylor slotting in at scrum half. Pavs then pressed hard for another score that would give them at least a point and would most probably have secured their position in Regional One next year. With Pavs throwing any sort of caution to the wind, Scunthorpe found the space an opportunity to score with three tries following in the ensuing twenty minutes. The succession of penalties continued to flow and it was an uphill battle to get the point required. Finally, the referee signalled the end of matters with Scunthorpe coming out on top 47-24, a result that keeps them in Regional One North East next season and gives Pavs the opportunity to rebuild in Regional Two whether that be in The Midlands or The North.
All in all, Pavs can be immensely proud of the five years that they have spent in the fifth tier of rugby. They remain an amateur club who have always tried to display a professional attitude, and are dependent on the loyalty and the comradeship that they engender. Playing in a semi professional league where “salary and hire” are often the way to success has always been a challenge that they have had to face. As such the cyclical nature of competitive sport affects them more than others. They will continue to value these important qualities, as they seek to rebuild utilising the highly valued Pavs Junior set up as well as welcoming new talent to the area. As an addendum, happily Dan Flint recovered enough to play for the NLD Under 20s along with Tom Davies in their victory over Leicestershire 52-12 the following day - well done boys!!!
Onwards……….!
Squad - Stevie Allen, Kieran Wells, Jake Baldry, Theo Collier, Harry Pritchard, Josh Alton-Smith, Bailey Mayo, Jim Reeson, Dan Flint, George Billam, Tom Davies, Ben Taylor, Danny Green, Alex Rimmington, Matt Molyneux.
Rep- Alex Barton, Owen Taylor, Tom Ryan.
Nigel Youl
1st XV Manager
