Market Drayton Rugby Club entertained Newcastle on Saturday for a training game played over four quarters.
Newcastle, who are two divisions higher than Drayton, arrived with a well drilled squad of around 35 players.
This allowed them to rotate continuously while Drayton could only field 19 players due to holiday commitments.
Even though on this occasion the scoreline was secondary, Drayton lost the game 32 - 12.
There were tries by Mark Peacock, thanks to an outstanding break by Stu Pemberton, and captain Chris Spence.
It was an excellent opportunity to assess the new laws, as well as the team’s readiness for the forthcoming season.
Drayton were excellent at scrummage and line out, but were very much second best at the ruck.
Newcastle enjoyed 70 per cent of the possession, were patient and recycled the ball extremely well.
The Staffordshire outfit also adapted far better to the referee’s lenient interpretation of the offside law, resulting in Drayton’s backs being forced to kick a lot of ball away.
Although Newcastle were able to remain fresh, Drayton did well to stem the pressure but they conceded far too many penalties.
Their discipline was somewhat “footballerish” on occasions, with many players not as fit as they ought to be at this stage.
Market Drayton’s next outing is another training game against Telford to be played next Saturday.
