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Morpeth Stags 18
Medicals Serpents 13
Here’s a teaser for you…name 3 good things to come out of Seghill. Alan McMillan, our centre during the famous ’75 cup run for one. Dave Pearson, the best English ref by a country mile for two. The No 4 cup making its way to Mitford Road on Saturday night is a most definite third. The fact that the Stags had to go into extra time against a younger, fitter side who must have seriously fancied themselves the longer the game went only made the victory sweeter.The Stags were in good shape going into the final. The only real downers were the injury to Morrison which prevented him from taking part and Crawford’s unavailability. The Stags were fortunate that young Liam Scott had played his way into contention and the youngster certainly justified the faith placed in himPlaying against the breeze in the first half, the Stags were quickly behind when the impressive Medicals stand off knocked over a penalty. He kept the students on the front foot with some astute tactical kicking, but the Stags defence was resolute and good field position did not equate to points. Dale was ruling the line out and the Stags front five had the students in all sorts of bother in the scrum. Oakey in particular put in a huge shift at loosehead and drove his opponent back relentlessly. Adopting a picking and driving game brought yardage, but no points as the old failing of going a yard too far and becoming isolated haunted the Stags. A good number of penalties were conceded for holding on and the Stags could have no complaint at the referees decisions.The scrum dominance brought the Stags back into the game on the 20 minute mark. Dale made a charging run into the Medicals defence to set up a scrum. The students were penalised at three consecutive scrums, with skipper Lightley opting for another scrum rather than kicking for goal or touch. The referee lost patience with the students and binned their hooker. The man advantage allowed the Stags to run the ball wide rather than hitting up into the 10/12 channel, giving Cox the chance to snake over wide on the left for a 5-3 lead.It was then the turn of Medicals to have a period of pressure. They won a series of penalties for not rolling away in the tackle and if truth be told, the Stags could consider themselves lucky not to have had someone binned. As it was, a brief lapse in concentration allowed a Medicals forward to crash over from close range for a converted score, putting the students ahead 5-10.Dungait was forced to withdraw just before half time and was replaced by Murphy, giving the Stags midfield a very youthful look and putting extra responsibility on the shoulders of Owens at 10 to call the plays. He responded in the second period with a deft chip over the onrushing Medicals back line. The ball sat up for Liam Scott to scoop up and charge over to tie the scores at 10-10. Some fluent handling from deep set Murphy away on a scorching run. Just when it looked like he could go all the way, he was denied by a last ditch tackle. The momentum was firmly with the Stags and when the Medicals were penalised for not rolling away, Lightley, before having to leave the field injured, asked Cox to kick for goal. The winger held his nerve to extend the lead to 13-10. As the clock ran down, Medicals chanced their arm and one lovely run from their centre looked to have match winning try all over it. Fortunately, Scott had not read the script and nailed the centre in a superb cover tackle. Meds were not to be denied, however, and kicked a penalty with seconds remaining to take the tie into extra time.Instead of wilting in the added time, the Stags pushed on. Scott again proved to be a thorn in the students side, handing off opponent after opponent in a forceful run. The deciding score, however, had a familiar feel. Dale made the initial surge from the base and linked with Norris. His pass sent Cowans screaming up the touchline. When checked, his inside pass found Murphy on a great supporting line and he outsprinted the cover for an excellent score. The forward domination the Stags had enjoyed all afternoon allowed them to run the clock down and claim the win.There were many things to be satisfied about during this game. The officials were fair and consistent; Seghill really put themselves out to make the day special and Medicals played their part fully in an absorbing game. The composure of the two youngest players was a real boost with Scott deservedly taking MoM honours. Some of the older heads, such as Oakey, Rank, Dale and Rutherford (still the best prop in the club!) saved their best performance of the season for this game. It was also pleasing to get all 21 players game time in such a close contest. It was a squad effort that lifted the cup, just as it had been getting to the final and the full squad enjoyed their night back at Mitford Road and then other watering holes in Morpeth. Well done to skipper Lightley for lifting the cup in his first season in the post. Days like Saturday go a long way to making up for the problems inherent with running the last selected side.Incidentally, the report title not only refers to the impact that the two young centres had on the game, but is also a pointer to Mick Bone for his choice of pre match music; a bit of Nirvana would go down well Michael.
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