13 March 2010 at Galashiels
Last Saturday saw a welcome return to league rugby for the Tynedale "Nomads" as sponsored by Arnold Clark. This time we were away (again) to Galashiels to fulfil an earlier fixture, which was lost to the snow in January in fact it was the whole of Galashiels which was lost in the snow that weekend. No such fear of this tie being cancelled as the sun shone bright and warm all day and the pitch was in ideal condition for the game.
In a game that would have no real bearing on the league position of either team, the Corbridge men were not expecting to win due to the Wanderers superior league position and also many of our key players being unavailable, presumably not wanting to travel in case they weren't back in time to see the start of the new "Ant & Dec" show. It was the travellers who started the brightest with a fine break from Mattmatt Williams down the left and a beauty of an offload to our Falstone Oriental, James "Toyota" Davidson, aptly named as "…there was just no stopping him…" to kick through and chase down the kick to score near the posts, with only 2 minutes on the clock. Without a recognised goal-kicker in this weeks squad, Michael Cunningham stepped up to the ball and with a solid thump the ball just limped over the bar, however, it was the Tynedale?? Touch Judge (who shall remain nameless) who signalled that he was unsure if it was over or under the bar so no score was awarded. Some end-to-end play ensued, some great driving play from Ben Ridley, Choppa Robson and debutant Alex Fitton making good ground. Despite this it was Gala who found themselves awarded a penalty in front of the posts on 10 mins to claw back some points & with that, their confidence gathered. The Tyne defence held solid until just before halftime when a scuffle broke out on the right when the Gala front row decided to throw their weight around, unfortunately this distraction allowed the Gala centre to squeeze through the gap which was left in the now stretched Tyne defensive line to score. An unsuccessful kick still meant that Gala led 8-5 at Halftime.
A rousing halftime speech and the threat of walking home from Neil Frankland saw a positive start from Tynedale and it didn't take long for a sniping run from MattMatt Williams to release Gus White off on the hoof, great support from MattMatt took the ball back and a surge of energy saw him break through to score under the posts. Matt took his own conversion in Mickey's absence and left Mr Williams (who shall remain nameless), the controversial Tynedale touch judge in no doubt about this one. Even though he was his Dad!! Within four minutes of the restart saw Chris Heslop embark on one of his pathfinder runs, with the ball held tight & just the legs moving at pace it looked to all as if he was auditioning for a part in "Riverdance" he jinked his way through the entire Gala back line and over the line, but he didn't stop there, back out into the field of play again to beat another opponent then across in front of the posts round one post then the other and with all his team-mates & coaches screaming at him to touch the ball down, he still had time for one more piece of flair when he dummied yet another tackler (poor lad had already missed him twice earlier in this move) to touch down under the posts This was ultimate show-boating at its best. MattMatt again slotted home the conversion to take the score to 19-8.
Gala plugged away and after some bewildering decisions from the referee they were rewarded with an easy kick at goal from 20 yards. With this successful, back they came again and a fantastic line of running from the centre, who was by far their best player on the day, scythed through the Tyne Backs to touch down under the uprights.
Unable to miss, despite PC's "nursery rhyme" willing it wide, the score was now a scary sight at 19-18 to the visitors. Gala pressed hard and in a moment of madness we saw their entire front row take exception to some wise words of advice from our little cherub Gus White, this allowed Tyne the space to set off in the opposite direction while leaving Gussie doing his bit for Anglo-Scot diplomatic relations. Once more the ball found its way into the hands of Hessy to thunder over for the score in the left hand corner. A tricky conversion attempt just went wide but with only two minutes remaining this tie still had to be won. Some great defensive work from Pete Elliott, Louis Frankland & Matty Chard snuffed out any possibility of a comeback. The Gala captain was not a happy sort and renewed his relentless complaining to the referee, (I wish he was playing Blackjack because I am sure he would "twist on 21"). By now the referee had had enough & he blew for full time. Tynedale worthy winners 24-18 and a very relieved Mr Williams (who shall remain nameless) allowed on the bus for the journey home. However, Mr W. one way of making amends for your indiscretions is by NOT falling asleep on the bus whilst you are supposed to be keeping PC supplied with Stella!!!!
This weekend sees the Tynedale Nomads selling the "Big Issue" on the streets of Melrose in another re-arranged League fixture from Christmas.