Hull Ionians 26 Tynedale 36

Report taken from "The Rugby Paper":-

Ionians' session drinking at the last chance saloon is fast approaching closing time and, by the look of things, after this result, they will be thrown out through the door before last orders are called.

Despite conceding a try in the opening minutes they has sufficient possession and territory throughout the remaining 78 to have fashioned a win. That they didn't was down to some poor game management, Tynedale's ability to make the most of their scoring chances and some quite baffling decisions from the referee. Not just today though its happened on several occasions, why is a side who has got the push on in the scrum automatically awarded a penalty? One side is better at shoving than the other, that is advantage enough! The visitors obviously thought so, because they elected to scrummage on every possible occasion.

The scores were close for the entire game, but despite being in contention, the hosts never held the lead. The nearest they came was when the scores were tied at 26-26 on the hour. In the final quarter the pressure told on the home side and the kicking turned into a disaster and Tynedale capitalised to move ten points clear and claim the win.