TEAM RECORDS

1st. XV – BIGGEST WIN AND SCORE

The club’s record score was achieved on 28th. January 2006 when, in a Durham/Northumberland Div. 3 league match, the 1st. XV won 170 – 0, the opponents being Hartlepool Athletic. The final score was comprised of 24 tries; 22 conversions; 1 penalty and 1 drop goal. The score at half-time was 71 – 0 with Blyth notching 99 points in the second half.

The tries were scored by :-
4 tries each from Tim Beech (lock) and James Bostock (wing);
3 tries each from Kevin Barratt (hooker); Gary Sinton (wing) and Greg Dawson (fly-half);
2 tries each from Chris Hogg (full back) and Scott Robinson (centre, Captain);
1 try each from Steve Pattison (centre); Ryan Davison (No.8) and Graeme Sutherland (replacement centre) – 1 try

Not surprisingly the match also allowed Greg Dawson to create a new club record for the greatest number of points scored by an individual in one game (see below).

The result of this match was remarkable in that Blyth had struggled to overcome ‘Athletic’ 8 – 5 in the reverse fixture only weeks before. Unfortunately, Hartlepool Athletic faced Blyth on one of those rare days when absolutely everything went right. Passes stuck, moves worked and support was always in the right place. Further, the players maintained their composure and concentration for the full 80 minutes with no hint of ‘show-boating’ or ‘mickey-taking’. The points difference was very much needed by Blyth in their bid for promotion as the club lagged far behind the league’s two leading clubs in this respect.

The final plaudits, however, must go the Hartlepool Athletic team. Despite finding themselves up against a team who could do nothing wrong they continued to play rugby to the bitter end without trying to limit the score with the host of tactics open to beaten teams. They maintained their effort and dignity to the end and will be remembered for this every time Blyth’s record win is mentioned.

HIGHEST NUMBER OF TRIES IN A GAME

The highest score/biggest win record was threatened on 1st. October 2011 when, in the home Durham and Northumberland Div. 2 game with Yarm, Blyth won 161-0. Yarm turned up with only 14 men, five of them props, and no replacements; the result of injuries and non-availability. Despite these problems it is to Yarm's credit that they turned up and played the full 80 minutes, the referee Brian Callender mercifully not adding any injury time. Whilst not quite matching the highest match score the Blyth team did manage to create three new records with the total number of tries scored being 25; twelve individual players contributing touch-downs and six players recording hat-tricks:-
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4 tries - Tony Smithson
3 tries - Andy Sutherland; Andy Barker; Ollie Clarke; Graeme Sutherland; Chris Grey.
1 try - Steven Hall; James Bostock; Wayne Dobson; Michael Barber; Steven Long; Dean Langdown.

Andy Sutherland kicked 14 conversions and brother Graeme 4. No penalties were attempted during the game.

The full team was Steven Hall; Andy Barker, James Bostock, Graeme Sutherland, Ollie Clarke; Andy Sutherland, Tony Smithson (capt.); Stu.Browne, Martin Stevenson, Michael Barber, Wayne Dobson, Karl Rose; Steven Long, Dean Langdown, Wayne Davie. Replacements Kev. Barratt, Nick Fraser, Chris Grey.

MOST POINTS SCORED BY A TEAM IN A SEASON

A record for the most points scored by the 1st XV team over a season was set in the 1971 - 72 season and stood for 40 years until surpassed in 2011-2012.

The 1971-72 record was:-

Played 37 matches; won 28, lost 9; points for 1044, points against 221.

For those readers not in receipt of a pension it must be pointed out that this tally was achieved at a time when a try counted only 4 points. By today’s standards the total is even more noteworthy. But it was finally surpassed in remarkable style during the club's 50th. Anniversary season in 2011-12 when the 1st. XV took the Durham and Northumberland League 2 title scoring 1113 points in the process. Add on the result of a National Cup match and the season's final playing record was:-

Played 25 matches; won 21, lost 4; points for 1128 ; points against 344. This gives an astonishing average of 45.12 points per game.

The stand alone league record was:- Played 24; won 21, lost 3; points for 1113 points against 301

BEST TEAM PLAYING RECORD

The above playing record for season 2011-12 was also the best, in the sense of fewest games lost. However in terms of the proportion of games won the best playing record was achieved by the 1st. XV in season 1972 -73. This followed on the achievement of scoring over one thousand points the previous season. What is remarkable is the fact that the fixture list in 1972-73 was considerably stronger than the previous season as a result of the team’s performance (remember those were pre-league rugby days when all matches other than cup ties were ‘friendlies’)

The team played 36 matches; winning 31 and losing only 5; points for 930, points against 282

INDIVIDUAL RECORDS

GREATEST INDIVIDUAL SCORE IN A MATCH - 65

On 28th. January 2006 as part of Blyth's biggest ever win (see Team Records above) fly-half Greg Dawson created a new record for the most points scored by an individual in a match with 65. In doing so he managed to achieve a ‘Grand Slam’ by scoring in each of the four possible ways. His points were made up of 3 tries; 22 conversions; 1 penalty and 1 drop goal. Naturally, this also represents the greatest number of conversions achieved in one game.

GREATEST NUMBER OF POINTS BY A PLAYER IN A SEASON - 393

This record is held by the peerless Tim Viard who, in season 1971 -72 scored 393 points. Again, this was done in the days of the 4 point try. To date, no breakdown of this record total has been found. However in the following season of 1972-73 Tim nearly matched his own achievement by totalling 386 points in the season. The details of this have survived. In 34 appearances Tim scored 33 tries (being joint top try scorer with Keith Richardson), 75 conversions, 23 penalties and 4 drop goals. At that time a try was worth only 4 points so that the 2011 equivalent of this total is an incredible 417pts!

MOST TRIES IN A MATCH - 6

Club statistics were previously never very well recorded in this area but several players were known to have scored 4 tries in a game with rumours that the record may even be 5. However, Andy Barker established a bench-mark for the future when he ran in 6 tries in the Durham & Northumberland League 2 match against Yarm on 14th. January 2012. The final score was Yarm 7 Blyth 94, the home side having scored first!

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