Unbeaten Morpeth march on

The match proved to be a strange encounter in terms of the set plays, with league leaders Morpeth dominating at scrum time winning nearly all the ball, however, Northern matched this dominance when it came to the line outs.

Following the kick off, the referee set out his stall with a sinbinning of Flanker Josh Williams. Worse was to follow for the visitors when Northern, who applied the early pressure, took a deserved early lead on 10 minutes when scrum half Gray scored after a quickly taken penalty. 5-0.

It was proving a difficult opening for Morpeth when on 14 minutes, fly half McKay was led from the field, concussed following a midfield collision. Veteran centre David Lynn took his place in a reshuffled back line, with Burgess moving from full back to 10.

On 20 minutes Morpeth scored a good try from some dominant forward drives and Dynan provided the finishing touches. 5-5.

Back came Northern, who after a period of good pressure, converted an easy penalty for 8-5.

But Morpeth got their noses in front at the break with flanker Williams scored, Burgess kicking the extras for 8-12.

The heavy conditions didn’t improve in the second half, but Morpeth took the game to the home side and dominated possession.

Despite their territorial dominance Morpeth struggled to add to their lead. This was in part due to some stout and well organised Northern defence, and a lack of fluidity from Morpeth.

Jackson, Clark, Dynan and Williams all made positive runs but it wasn’t until the 57th minute that Morpeth eventually pulled away with Burgess going over after a good scrum from the visitors.

As the penalty count continued to grow Morpeth sealed yet another bonus point win on 79 minutes, Manley taking an excellent line and race over by the posts for Burgess to add the extras. 8-26.

That’s eight out of eight for Morpeth who on Saturday (November 5) are home to Penrith.