We welcomed old friends and rivals West Hartlepool to Parc du Acklam for our fixture in Regional 2 North. We were looking to avenge our last gasp draw over at Catcote Lanes earlier in the season
This was a much tougher match than the score line suggests, West started the stronger, playing down the slope, they battered the Boro defences for the opening few minutes
The ball is eventually won by Boro and the ball spun through the backs hands out to wing Sean Joseph Moloney who turns on the afterburners to score, opposite wing Brendan Hill kicks the extras 7-0
West are straight back on the attack and following a yellow card for Boro prop Helm they score out wide 12-5
Boro finish the half strongly and a break from Hooker Joe Sawdon feeds the ball to No.8 Aedan Moloney who joins his brother on the score sheet HT 12-5
The second half is all hammer and tongs from both teams and is a stalemate for half an hour until Boro push forward and are awarded a penalty kicked by Brendan Hill 15-5 a bit of breathing space for the home team
Try as they might West are unable to unlock Boro’s defence and are caught out by a pass from ever reliable skipper Jack Mac to replacement wing Harry Bryce “Brycie’s on fire your defence is terrified” and a good con from Brendan Hill makes it 22-5
Shortly after this back rower Alistair Lang brings back tales of Jim Chapman v Fylde from all those years ago to make a break chip, chip the full back collect and score with a grin as wide as the mouth of the Tees, Brendan Hill converts 29-5
Full Time Middlesbrough 29 West Hartlepool 5
It was great to see all our old friends from West today and I hope their team takes inspiration from their performance today, with a different bounce of the ball it could have been a different story

We welcomed friends from all around the globe today, it was ace to see Sarah and Ross Webber over from Bermuda, Kevin Shakesheff M/C/O Delete as necessary BE, Big John Dixon et al.

“To Infinity and Beyond”

Jabba