An engrossing game of rugby culminated in a narrow victory for the Vets in the quarter final of the Northumberland Junior Shield at Stocksfield. The teams arrived at the ground to the noise of 140 decibels of "motivational music" blasting out from the Prudhoe dressing room, however it was later revealed that this was just an effort to drown out club stalwart Alan Carr's dulcet tones. It didn't work. Watched by a sizeable crowd which included local politician and former player of both clubs Councillor Geoff Sloan the game was never likely to be a champagne spectacle with neither side using their backs to useful effect, but with both packs playing a tactical game akin to chess players on steroids and beer it was a magnificent effort by both packs to sustain the intensity. Dave Mignunelli led the P&S forwards with a passion that sometimes cost them penalties but nothing else was expected. Similarly Tynedale hooker Richard Parker was seen on numerous occasions rummaging around on the floor under a pile of bodies doing things only allowed in his own rulebook affording the Prudhoe pack a chance to clean the studs of their boots. One such occasion led to a yellow card for Parker, sensibly the referee brought his own rule book, swiftly followed by a second yellow for the P&S scrum half Ian Christer for cleaning too much muck off his own boots onto Parkers back. Aside from this incident the game was played in a great spirit.
The game kicked off in glorious conditions with the Vets playing up the slope. The packs were evenly matched and the game settled into a rucking and mauling routine with neither side breaking the stalemate. The first scrum saw the P&S front row of Nick Sherwin, Mark Russell and former club president John Reed gain the upper hand against a more youthful Vets front three of Charlie Murray, Parker and Angus Whitelaw, however the remaining scrums were a much closer contest. Lineouts were also an even contest with Vets Fergus Mitchell and Richard Jones competing with Matthew Jefferson and former Tynedale player Chris Dodds. The main difference in the sides were the half back pairings with Tynedale scrum half Simon Clayton-Hibbott using all his experience to outshine 17 year old Ian Christer. This allowed stand off Richard Cramb a little more time and space to orchestrate proceedings to a greater degree of accuracy than his counterpart John Whitfield who took too many balls standing still which gave him fewer options. With Cramb driving play up field the P&S discipline let them down on two kickable occasions and Hibbott put six points on the board quickly followed by a P&S penalty by Chris Russell. Then came the match winning moment, which was likened to a 1986 France v Scotland international in front of tens of thousands of French supporters at the Parc de Prince. In that game Scottish scrum half Roy Laidlaw fired a pass into the hands of stand off Cramb who calmly dropped a goal from the 10-metre line and the home supporters descended into silence. Likewise at Stocksfield, Graham Yates took the ball from a lineout, Hibbott fired the pass and Cramb kicked the drop goal and the tens of home supporters descended into silence. Except for Alan Carr. The home team raised their game from the re-start and drove downfield and as the half drew to a close the yellow cardings took place close to the try line which forced a re-shuffle in the Vets front row allowing Andy Murray to pack down alongside his son but with a man down the weight of the P&S pack told and Mignunelli claimed the pushover try.
The second half saw a change of tactic for the Vets with more ball spun out to centres Rod Wallace and Craig Johnson and close support from flankers Ian Charlton and Neil Murphy. Full back Scott Ferguson also made an occasional foray into the line but strong tackling by Charlie Tindall and Paul Griffin quashed any Vets attacks. With time pressing on Prudhoe used more devious tactics to try and get the winning score including using a human shield in the form of Richard Sample however referee Ryan spotted the infringements and duly blew his whistle allowing the Vets to clear their lines. With no scoring in the second half Tynedale now progress to the semi final to be played on 3rd March at either Seghill..