Saints secure a tight in against Alleynians

On a day when the River Shuttle threatened to ice over the Saints took on Alleynians on the somewhat unfamiliar surroundings of ST Mary's and the big pitch. Afyer the usual late arrivals abnd truncated warm up Darts kicked off. The early running with hard yards being made by the pack and the back line making inroads. Sadly for all this endeavour Darts were a little disjointed and couldn't turn pressure into points. The odd penalty here and there allowed Alleynians to break outand score somewhat against the run of play. Darts batlled back with Dan Olding crashing over to score. That proved to be the highlight of the first half as the penalty count mounted and combined with the Alleynians offloading game kept Darts on the back foot. The visitors went over for two more tries making the halftime score 17-5 to the visitors.
Sound words at half time from Skipper Mike Brent and a rousing " we are younger ,fitter and sexier " from Staggy were the shot in arm Darts needed . The work rate increased and Darts set piece which had been solid all game gave the team the platform they needed to unkeash the lively back line. Mike Brent found some space and went on a lung busting run nbefore offloadi ng to Darlington Answar to finish off in the corner. In spite of some lively play fromthe visitors Darts kept up the momentum with Staggy scoring followed by dan Olding scoring his second of the match. Mike Brent converted. Mike capped off a fine display with a great try of his own which he also converted taking his tally to 9 points for the day. Darts had scored a total of 24 points without reply in the second half but as the game crept into the final stages Alleyniand scored a consolation try which was converted as well as ending the match. A somewhat relieved Saints team running out winners 29-24.
A great performance by all the team and Callum Monaghan was awarded Player of the Match for his excellent chop tackling throughout the match.