Morpeth RFC play out thrilling 45-45 draw with Consett

Morpeth RFC played out a pulsating - and extremely rare - 45-45 draw away at Consett on Saturday afternoon.

In an encounter that swung back and forth, the visitors found themselves 14 points ahead with eight minutes of the game remaining, but ultimately had to settle for a sharing of the spoils as Consett scored twice late on to draw level in an enthralling climax.

Consett had the better of the early stages, and deservedly took the lead on four minutes with an inside break that caught out a stunned Morpeth defence for a converted try underneath the posts.

That score seemed to spark the visitors into life. Morpeth gained a penalty and from the resulting lineout, second row Steven Long was able to secure a loose ball and unload onto Chris Johnstone, who crashed over for an unconverted try.

Morpeth would then increase their lead through Ryan Shaw, who touched down after a great Jake Stevenson break out, followed by a strong Nathan Arkle run. Ben Hornby kicked the conversion to open up a five-point lead.

The advantage was extended further in the 26th minute as the visitors capitalised on a Consett handling error. Full-back Callum Burgess was heavily involved in a counter attack, before dummying and then sending winger Arkle over in the corner. Hornby then produced a great conversion.

But Consett hit back with two tries of their own before the interval, one of which was converted, to send them in 21-19 ahead at the break.

The home side started the second half in complete domination too. By the 50th minute they had further increased their lead with a brace of tries. The first came when a quick ball was released to Consett’s dangerous backs, while the second came about after Morpeth lost a defensive lineout, subsequently conceded a penalty - which was quickly taken - and before they knew it, the visitors were 12 points down.

From there, however, Morpeth took the game to Consett. On 54 minutes, Jack Elliott released winger Finn Tilmouth, who finished in style, before Arkle secured his brace when Shaw offloaded. Hornby’s subsequent conversion brought the scores level.

Better was still to come for Morpeth when Burgess put them ahead in the 68th minute, and an increasingly effective away scrum then made the difference as Tom Leeson went over to make it 31-45.

But the visitors couldn’t hang on for the win, and after Leeson was sent to the sin bin, a resurgent Consett snatched two late tries, both converted, to tie the scores, and the contest.