Rugby Union: Bradford and Bingley 15, Northern 51.

Northern coach John Curry doesn't believe in giving his side ten marks out of ten.

"That's perfection," he said. But he did give his team "91/2 out of ten for the last 30 minutes" of their third round NPI Cup thrashing of Bradford and Bingley.

Added the former Rotherham coach: "And I give us seven out of ten for the first half and two for the first ten minutes of the second half."

Looking at the match overall, he said: "There were more highs and lows from us than normal, but we have never had a high this season like the last 30 minutes."

You wouldn't have thought that five Northern players were making their debuts - No 8 Alistair McConway, centre Gus Elliott, hooker Gavin Irvin, right winger Bruce Arnold and replacement centre Ben Johnson - such was the team's cohesion.

As for the Bees, who were skippered by Curry's former Gosforth clubmate Richard Petyt, he said: "They are a very lively side."

Bradford and Bingley scrum half Peter watts said: "They won the match on our mistakes, but they always had a man in support of the ball-carrier as well.

"Ironically, that is the best we have played for a week or two, but we missed Andy Murphy (groin strain) and Mark Heap went off with a massive lump on his temple after an accidental collision with Mark Coultas."

On the evidence of most of the contest, there is no reason to suspect why Northern should not gain promotion from North Division One and go a long way in the NPI Cup.

They even fielded two players who were on the bench for Newcastle's Allied Dunbar Premiership One match against Northampton yesterday - flanker Neil Frankland and replacement prop Steve Best.

Curry, who 'suffered' a strip-o-gram in the clubhouse afterwards because it was his birthday on Friday, explained: "Ours is a very close relationship with Newcastle Falcons.

"They, us and Newcastle University talk about players four or five times a week, and about everything else that is going on.

"Last season they fed us and this season we are feeding them."

The Bees only had two periods of parity or ascendancy - when fly half Petyt grabbed a seventh-minute try to make it 5-5 and when lively right winger Asa Firth scored a try in the opening minutes of the second half, centre Matthew Inman converting and adding a penalty as Northern were hauled back from 26-5 to 26-15.

Apart from that it was obvious that the Newcastle team were going to make it seven wins in seven competitive matches this season (five in the league and two in the cup, Novocastrians having given them a walkover in round two).

Northern ran in nine tries, five coming from the new boys - two to Arnold and McConway and one to Elliott.

Left winger Chris Armitage scored three, centre and skipper Ross Wilkinson getting the other.

None were converted though, as fly half Dan Walker added a conversion and a drop goal.

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