NORTHALLERTON 2nd XV travelled away to Barnard Castle in a match that epitomised social rugby in The Frank Patterson memorial cup.

With intermittent windy and wet conditions both teams struggled to get a grip on the game but soon North’s dominance in the pack started to cause Castle to give away penalties, and fly half Essex kept pegging Castle back.

North had plenty of possession but just couldn’t seem to get points on the board. Then with five minutes left to go in the first half, Barney’s man of the match Craig Patterson scored in the corner (Frank Patterson’s grandson) and then on the stroke of half time North added another through captain Chad Kenney. The second half started off with Northallerton dominant . With their strong creative line out they added a couple more tries through Alex Wallis and Alex Bilby. North had their tails up now and a high ball kick from Essex put pressure on the Castle backs that let Martin Oosthuizen go under the posts with a fantastic chase. Trie from great forward play were scored by Simon Warren, with a second for Alex Bilby. The opportunity for another try came when hooker Jonny Baker knocked on over the try line after gathering a fumbled ball.

North added a final try through a solo effort from veteran Essex who managed to pick up the ball on half way, beat four defenders then score under the posts – and then converted his own try. Castle rallied back and added a couple of tries of their own. Final score: Barnard Castle 15 - 42 Northallerton.

Man of the match captain Chad Kenney, said: "A big thank you to Barnard Castle and once again a great advert for social rugby enjoyed by all."