Hartlepool Rovers 26--15 Morpeth

Morpeth travelled to Teeside in good heart after their win against
Durham City the previous Saturday.The events that ensued could not have
been predicted with one sending off and three sin bins.Rovers suffering
the sending off and Morpeth having 3 players sin binned.
With the amount of stoppages the game was not a great spectacle and
whilst there may well have been some controversial decisions on the
whole Rovers just about shaded it.

They started off agressively and early pressure resulted in a penalty which

 was equalised shortly afterwards when Jinks slotted over from some

40 metres 3--3.It was when the score was equal when Rovers had

a man sent off and this somewhat set the stall for a disappointing game.

The Mitford Road side were punished when they went to sleep after

 another penalty award against them allowing scrum half Foreman

 to slice through and score before half time and this became a crucial

score as Morpeth were punished with sin bins to Thornton and Hills.

The half time score being 13-3 in Rovers favour.

The second half continued with Rovers taking the game to Morpeth who
scored 2 further penalties to  go ahead 19-3 .However at this point
Morpeth played some good open rugby with Wilkinson and Mooney to the
fore ably supported by Morrison and Armstrong in the back row.They were
rewarded with tries by Thornton and then a planned short penalty with
Hooker Charlton crashing over near the posts,converted by Jinks.Morpeth
were yet again a score behind at the close which has summed up a
frustrating term so far with everyone showing excellent commitment and
effort,not helped by some refereeing inconsistencies which players from
both sides seemingly puzzled.
Next week sees the side back at home for their vital encounter against
Ilkley  .