We arrived at Hartlepool on the back of a run of hard games where we have battled really hard and just come up short. The application has never been in doubt, with the team playing their hearts out. Today we had the bare 13, but a really strong 13.

We always try to get the team to stamp their mark on any game early on, and let the opposition know that they are in for a hard game, and this worked so well today.

From the first whistle, we were formidable around the breakdown, strong in the tackle, and at times our defensive line speed worked really well in stifling any Hartlepool attacks. In essence, we were that dominant that Hartlepool rarely got out of their own half, and we had the majority of the ball. We scored some lovely individual and team tries, and it was obvious that Hartlepool heads were going down very quickly.

Due to issues in the Hartlepool front row, scrums were uncontested, but both hookers could strike. We won all our own ball and took some of Hartlepool's too.

By half time we were 50 points up, and after a further 10mins of the second half, the game was conceded. We then played mixed teams to even things up and get more game time.

So many positive performances today. Ever reliable Leo, Riley H, Elliot and Nicky dominated in the forwards, and Oliver, Olly and Riley G were strong in the backs. Sparky scored his first try with a strong run in the first half, and Thomas lost nothing in the scrum. Robbie made some fantastic forward runs, and was happy to play in a number of positions, and Jake Bartley grows in confidence making a number of runs up the wing to give us territorial advantage.

However, two players really stood out today, and both could have been given player of the match. They were Jacob Reid and Isaac Boyd, both instrumental in our go forward, taking the game to Hartlepool and scoring tries. Isaac just pipped it.

Very proud of these boys, well done!