In an anticipated chaotic weekend which would see Tynedale Colts, as sponsored by Arnold Clark, travel to Perth on Staurday for the Knock-out round of the "weather-beaten" East of Scotland Cup and then followed on Sunday with a Northumberland County Cup match against North Shields, the dedication of the squad was to be truly stretched. With a place in the ¼ Final & semi-final respectively on offer to the winners the Tynedale travellers did not disappoint. With all arrangements in place and everyone gearing up for the early start, word filtered through that the EoS Cup competition had been scrapped due to a clash in fixtures with the "Lothian Dummy Spitting competition" and the "Japanese Stampie Foot Contest". Unfortunate as this was, we should take this opportunity to congratulate Selkirk Youth Club on retaining the trophy for the second successive year. Well Done Lads - worthy patrons of the Towns Motto - "No Surrender"
On Sunday it was off down the coast to sunny North Shields, the conditions were ideal although the pitch could have passed as a body-double for a Flanders trench in 1914. This favoured the home side as they started applying the pressure from the Kick-off, scrummaging very well & driving the Tynedale pack backwards at will. This was unknown territory for our forwards who have been dominant in the tight all season. With only four minutes on the clock, Shields recycled the ball quickly and distributed it into the hands of their wide man who touched-down unopposed in the far right hand side. Conversion unsuccessful.
From the kick-off Tynedale applied their pressure & with some thundering runs from Sam White, Fridge Raine and the spritely old man Rich Ridley saw us make yards up field. A penalty awarded to Tyne for an infringement at the scrum gave Rory Dixon a chance to get us back into the game. The kick from almost 40 yards and to the right of the posts sailed nicely between the uprights. Again & again, Shields threatened the Tyne try-line and after soaking up all the pressure it looked like a reprieve was on the cards when the ball was flipped up to Mattmatt Williams to clear the danger. The Shields flanker whose pace was reminiscent of Usain Bolt (or maybe he was just a tad off-side) charged the resulting kick down, the ball was touched down and the try was awarded. This time the conversion was successful. Michael Cunningham saw the yellow card for a "professional" foul and things were not looking good for the Blue & Whites. Three more times the Shields forwards crossed our try-line and on those three occasions the fantastic efforts of the Tynedale defence held up the potential scorer. The Half-time whistle was a welcome relief but with the vistors trailing 12-3 and having significantly less than their usual share of possession the second half would be a hard slog.
The Second half started with a more determined effort from the Corbridge team, we were now starting to dominate the scrum which saw Jofess Northwood taking many against the head. With this renewed vigour, Tynedale forced Shields into another error in a central position and were punished by the ever dependable boot of Rory Dixon to bring Tyne to within one score. What followed was a fast and frantic 20 minutes of end to end rugby, both sides looking dangerous on the attack and clinically solid in defence. As the time ticked away, it was looking more likely that it was not going to be our cup for a third consecutive year. Some superb driving phase-play by the Tynedale pack got Rich Ridley within feet of the try-line only to be stopped short by sheer numbers of defenders, quick thinking & the dancing feet of Mattmatt Williams recycled the ball and lunged for the line to score. With the clock ticking closer to the final minutes, a successful kick at goal was required to take the lead. Pressure kick if ever there was one, up stepped Rory Dixon again, as cool as a penguin in sunglasses he took his team-mates into the lead for the first time in the game. Only 3 minutes left to play seemed forever as the time went on beyond and nearing 40 minutes when the referee blew up for full time. Tynedale win 13 - 12.
This was a fantastic spectacle of Youth rugby at its best and a real pleasure to watch.
Thanks to all who took part & most importantly those who were there as replacements and were unfortunately not used.
The Colts squad is now proving that their early season lack of confidence in their ability is now dead & buried and a more confident team are taking to the field these days. Reward is in the form of a Semi-final place against the winners of the Morpeth V Berwick fixture due to be played 13th March.
In a game where everyone contributed enormously to the win, a man of the match is a very tricky one to call, but in my opinion this weeks award goes to Ross Keady for his excellent performance, decision making and solid defence against a very determined & well drilled opposition.
Saturday sees the Colts travel to Galashiels to fulfil an outstanding league fixture, an early kick off is planned so we can be back to our own side of the Carter Bar before the international kicks off.