Teesside Steelers suffered an agonising defeat at home to Normanton A on Saturday. The Steelers enjoyed the majority of possession but tired in the final quarter to allow Normanton to clinch the game with 5 minutes to go.
In the first half the Steelers played with the slope and wind in their favour and on their first attack came away with two points when Gowing converted the penalty, (2-0). Normanton then took advantage of Teessides indiscipline when Morse added two penalties, to give them the lead, (2-4). The Steelers then got the better of Normanton and enjoyed a lengthy period of pressure with half backs Gowing and Reilly being involved in almost every attacking move. The pressure finally paid off when Garside had gone close on the right, the ball was moved swiftly back to left where Dickenson squeezed in at the corner for his first try for the club, (6-4). Normanton then enjoyed their best spell but great defensive work from Dunn, Day and Darby allowed the Steelers to keep their slender lead until the half time interval. (Half time).
The second half started with Teesside doing all the early pressing going close through Boyd and Fretwell, but it took a piece of great individual skill when Gowing dummied and stepped his way past 5 defenders to score, (10-4). The Steelers then went to sleep for 15 minutes and allowed Normanton to score two tries through Martin and Webb to take the lead, (10-12). Teesside then took advantage of Normantons indiscipline and took play deep into their half. Ward and Reilly went close before Gowing fed Darby who stepped past two defenders to score by the posts, (14-12). The Steelers now started to tire after their excellent work in defence and Normanton started to get on top. Normanton took a quick tap penalty after a Steelers player was penalised for lying on and Martin bust over the line to score, Morse converting, (14-18). With time fast running out, Steelers tried everything to get the winning score but couldn't break down the Normanton defence. (Full-time)