Sat 30 Oct 2021
Ashington produced their best away win of the season in this 11 try thriller, for their 5th consecutive victory. The home side started strongly and Mitchell Brown and then Josh Weeks rescued Ash with powerful drives out of defence before Gateshead crossed in the corner for an unconverted try after 4 minutes.
Ash bounced back producing a period of sustained pressure. Greg Henderson was held up over the try line before a pick up from the base of the scrum by Chris Johnson in midfield found the steaming Steven Parsons crashing through the centre, his perfectly timed pass saw Merryweather outpace the covering defence to score near the posts, Arkle adding the conversion.
Ash continued to press and a Gleeson chip and chase set up an attacking lineout, Moffatt soared above the opposition and from the driving maul Smart drove the ball on, before Brierly broke blind to burst through 2 attempted tackles to score in the corner, Arkle adding the difficult touch line conversion to give Ash a 5-14 lead after 20 minutes.
Ash were forced to defend from the restart, Brown, Henderson and Weeks all carrying strong out of defensive positions.
Ash then successfully defended a scrum and tap penalty deep in their own 22, as Gateshead piled on the pressure, switching the ball from side to side, Ash twice tackling players into touch on either wing. From the second lineout Ash were able to kick clear to relieve the pressure.
Parsons and Weeks then combined, Weeks producing a fantastic hand off to break 40 metres upfield and chip ahead when he had men outside.
Ash were now winning decent ball and a lovely Parsons break found Jack Taylor on his shoulder, Taylor backed his pace to go outside the winger and outstripped the covering fullback to score in the corner to give Ash a 5-19 half time lead.
Ashington started the second half strongly with a Connor Nichol jinking run taken on by Parsons. Gateshead were penalised at the ruck and from the quick tap penalty Ash knocked on 5metres out.
The visitors continued to press deep in the Gateshead 22, and from an attacking scrum, Johnson picked up and fed Brown who drove through 2 tacklers to cross for the bonus point 4th try, Arkle converting.
At this stage Ash were dominant but were penalised at ruck in midfield, from the quick tap penalty, the referee appeared to miss a knock on, Ash were slow to recover and Gateshead went nearly the length of the field to score.
Ash began to lose their discipline and focus and shortly after the restart were again penalised for offside and then marched back 10metres for backchat, Gateshead taking full advantage to score a converted try near the posts after strong runs from forwards and backs. Gateshead were back in the game with the score now 17-26 and nearly 30 minutes to play. Ash used their 3 replacements, bringing on Clark and Dickinson in the back row and Jarvis at fullback.
Clark and Dickinson had an immediate impact, both making big tackles but Ash were still under pressure, from a scrum deep in their 22 they drove Gateshead off their own put in, only to lose the ball as they tried to play their way out of defence, Gateshead taking full advantage to score a converted try near the posts. The score was now 24-26 with 20 minutes still to go.
Ash were then penalised in mid field 30m out for not rolling away at the ruck after Smart had made a good tackle. Gateshead kicked the penalty and with the large home crowd cheering them on, were now leading 27-26.
Ash regrouped, Parsons, Smart and Brierly put in strong driving runs before Nichol and Jarvis broke down the left wing, Clark and Henderson carried on the attack with powerful runs and from the ruck near the Gateshead try line Smart drove over for a try converted by Arkle to give Ash a 27-33 lead with 8minutes remaining.
From the kickoff Ash were penalised for following up in front of the defensive clearing kick, The Gateshead skipper opting to kick the penalty rather than go for the converted try they needed to win the match.
With the score now 30-33 and the game in the balance, a combination of Moffat and Clark won the restart and from the ruck 20 metres out, prop Ian Brierly, broke blind, went outside the Gateshead winger and outpaced the covering defence to cross in the corner. With the score 30-38 Gateshead still had time for 1 more attack but a great drive out of defence by MOM Weeks and a Taylor covering tackle snuffed out the final threats to give Ashington a deserved and thrilling victory, leaving them 2nd in the league.
To cap a good Saturday Ashington 2s won 41-34 at Tynedale 3s
This Saturday there are no league fixtures and Ashington play Morpeth Reivers in the Northumberland County Shield. KO 2.15, the 2s are also at home to Northern Panthers.
