Billingham 24 v 17 Hull Ionians

You have to go back a long way to find a time when Ionians lost more than two games on the bounce at level four, (admittedly not at all difficult if you search through their N1 results) so it was somewhat disconcerting to watch as Ionians succumbed to a fourth straight defeat in the fixture against newly promoted side, Billingham.
The Tee-siders are very much a club on the up, now behind only DMP as the highest ranked club in the area. They have a nice club house, a good pint, a pristine plastic pitch and the best view of the match to be had from the gents anywhere in the country.
After showing I’s how to play on the aforementioned playing surface they sit very nicely in fourth place in N2N.
Other than their opening day defeat at Rotherham, Billingham have been involved in relatively tight encounters. The seven points difference in this match was the biggest margin in any of their other fixtures and it was only due to a final quarter revival from Ionians that it wasn’t a more comfortable victory for the home side.
Ionians were under pressure from the off. Billingham used Walton, Walton and Whinn to serve notice of their intentions by carrying hard at the visitors, before fly-half Evans set the backs loose, to keep Ionians back peddling and trapped in their own half. The visitors didn’t help their cause with some lacklustre tackling and they were penalised at the ruck as Billingham poured forward. Fortunately, the stiff breeze dragged Jobe Roxby’s effort just wide of the posts.
I’s continued to struggle against an abrasive Billingham outfit and despite a period of possession they failed to break out of their own half of the field.
Billingham re-gained control and with a series of incursions they managed to get over the line for a try from No8, Mike Walton. Roxby again failed to judge the strength of the wind and put the conversion beyond the up-rights.
Ionians looked to be coming to terms with conditions and a couple carries from Will Stowe got them into the opposition half where they were awarded a penalty for holding on at the break-down. It was directly in front of the sticks but 40m out. However, Lewis Minikin fancied his chances so I’s went for goal, but the wind flummoxed even him as his effort drifted just wide.
Billingham countered from the re-start and broke fully 80m before Minikin was able to pull Evans to ground. The home side were up quick in support and swung the ball across the field, catching Ionians in disarray and Josh Britton was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on which prevented Billingham crossing in the corner.
The let-off was short lived. Billingham stayed camped in the I’s 22 and barraged away to go over for a second try on the half hour, the rotund Kieran Clarke claiming the touchdown. Haxby made good with his conversion to put the hosts 12 – 0 in front.
George Mewburn revived the visiting supporter’s interest with a thumping tackle from the kick off. This was quickly followed by a penalty, not to the liking of someone in the Billingham ranks and Mr Harris gifted I’s a further 10m (one of precious few awards on the afternoon,) for good field position within the home 22.
Ionians elected to scrummage, they won the ball and threw it left and right before knocking on and allowing Billingham to clear.
Ionians closed the half deep in home territory and they looked to have pulled a score back when they drove over. Mr Harris signalled a try before the intervention of VAR (the assistant ref. had spotted a forward pass) meant he had to rescind his decision and a disconsolate Ionians trudged off for oranges.
Ionians made a better start to the second half. Two successive penalties got them to within 5m of the home line and a good catch and drive was finished off by Chris Morton.
It wasn’t long before Billingham restored normal service to put Ionians back under pressure. A determined defensive stint kept Billingham at bay, only to have the good work undone when they failed to take control of their own line-out and watched as back-rower Jackson latched onto the loose ball to canter over unmolested.
The hosts didn’t have to wait long to claim the bonus point try. Indecision had become infectious in the Ionians ranks and Joe Ross capitalised, as two Ionians backs dithered over the bounce of a speculative kick from Evans, to gather and race away to score. Roxby’s conversion pushed the advantage to 24 – 5 and had Ionians facing a daunting final half hour.
The introduction of Kieran Smith injected some pace into the Ionians side and with it changed their fortunes. They put together some decent rugby with Smith and Minikin combining in a break up the stand side touchline before the ball was swiftly transferred across field for James Sanderson to power his way over. Minikin added the extras to reduce the arrears to 12 points.
I’s were straight back on the offensive and won a penalty right in front of goal. Before the pea had stopped rolling round the whistle Sam Pocklington was off, he hared past a couple of bemused onlookers before providing Sam Wilson with a pass and a clear run to the line.
The score was 24 – 17 with ten minutes remaining. Could Ionians fashion an unlikely win? Could Billingham hold out?
Ionians had a go. They won a series of penalties that were put to touch within the “red zone” but by hook or by crook Billingham kept them out. A knock on by Ionians gave the home side a scrum and they cleared to half way. Ionians came back with a good run from Minikin but another handling error gave Billingham another scrum and Evans ended the event, despatching the ball to touch.
Billingham will be difficult to beat at home. They are well organised, well marshalled by the half-backs and offer a threat from the back three. However, I believe a fully functioning Ionians would have won this encounter.
There were brief signs that an improvement is just around the corner. It will need to be, third placed Wharfedale come calling next Saturday. One thing we can take heart from; no matter how off colour we have been in recent weeks, we are still not as poor as England.