Newcastle 20 pts Ludlow 20 pts

AFTER a disappointing first 20 minutes, which saw them trailing 15-3, Ludlow rallied to take a point in their Midlands Four West (North) fixture in Staffordshire. Fly-half, Mark Williams was the hero of the piece scoring all the points.

The visitors were very sluggish at the start and conceded an early try, which the home team also converted to open up a 7-0 lead. Williams reduced the deficit with a penalty.

Newcastle belying their lowly league position then stretched away with an unconverted try and a penalty. Ludlow finally got going and actually put themselves in front by the break with two converted tries.

They secured possession from a 5-metre scrum and the forwards drove forward, before feeding Gareth Edwards who in turn set Williams away for a try under the posts. When Newcastle cleared their lines with a kick, Derek Sandell gathered possession and ran the ball back towards his forwards who were able to form a solid ruck. Once again the ball was fed to Williams who crossed for his second try to leave the score 17-15 at the break.

Newcastle went back in front with an unconverted try but Williams tied the score with his second penalty. Ludlow pressed forward during the last 15-minutes and Williams attempted to repeat a momentous feat from earlier in the day, but unfortunately Newcastle had not read the script and charged down his late drop-goal attempt.