After being flooded out during December’s Storm Desmond, Tynedale were forced to set up camp at Newcastle Falcons’ Kington Park stadium, and the Harrogate game marked the first competitive fixture played back at their Tynedale Park home since the flooding.

As such, spirits were high but Harrogate were in no mood for special occasions and brought with them a large and belligerent pack that caused Tynedale trouble all afternoon.

Early on in the game, two major themes became apparent:

Firstly, Tynedale’s midfield defence was a brick wall that prevented Harrogate’s more physical players from any chance of breaking into Tyne’s 22. Captain Joe Mills and Will Miller led from the front here; the former mastering the dark arts of the breakdown and the latter trying to take out attackers with his man-bun.

The second theme, however, was the dominance of Harrogate’s pack. At times, they really piled pressure on Tyne, as scrum penalties and turnovers gifted the visitors territory (which they otherwise struggled for) or allowed their fly-half Charles Morgan a kick at goal. There were cries from the stands accusing referee Benjamin Davis of penalising players in blue and white unfairly, but a penalty count ratio of two-to-one cannot in all honesty be attributed to wayward refereeing.

After a few bludgeoning opening exchanges, Harrogate finally opened their account with a scrum penalty, which fly-half Charles Morgan slotted with ease. Tyne were then almost immediately penalised from the restart for holding on, giving Morgan another attempt at goal. Fortunately for Tyne, the attempt was wide and so the score remained 0-3.

Harrogate were desperately trying to find a way through Tynedale’s resolute defence, and began to resort to either kicking deep into Tyne territory or dropping bombs on the home side’s back three of Henry Hadfield, Jonny Mock and Aedon Maloney.

On one such occasion, Hadfield managed to charge down a kick, but the follow-through was fumbled and a brief (although entertaining) foray into Harrogate’s territory fizzled out.

Harrogate were finally able to double their score in comic fashion, as they attempted another chip into Tyne’s half. Aedon Maloney called mark as he caught the ball, and then proceeded to hoof the ball 40 metres into the air, and about 10 metres forwards. Incensed by his mis-kick, Aedon attempted his best Hulk Hogan-clothesline on the unlucky Harrogate player who caught the ball, and gave Morgan a clear kick at goal. Aedon may have came out with the World Heavyweight Championship, but Harrogate came away 0-6.

It was left up to Tyne’s comparatively veteran centre Jack Harrison to get the team into gear, by intercepting a wayward Harrogate pass and side-stepping several defenders, before Harrogate were penalised for hands in the ruck.

With the momentum now with Tynedale, Mills ordered Ash Smith to kick for the corner. Hooker Louie Frankland found Mills in the line-out, and the Tynedale pack went to work. Ben Haigh, who had recently come on for Peter ‘Bullet’ Southern, bullied his way over from the back of the line for Tyne’s first try. Ash Smith added the extras, and Dan Lowdon came on for Frankland shortly before the restart.

The home-side looked to capitalise on their try with wave after wave of strong runs. Scott Powell, Will Miller and Henry Hadfield in particular were singled out for praise from the crowd as they burst the mainline repeatedly.

Another penalty for Tynedale, and another kick for the corner looked as though Tynedale were about to repeat their earlier try, but some great gain-line defending from Harrogate kept Tyne out and eventually forced a knock-on. Tynedale had recovered from their earlier scrum penalties, and now seemed dominant in the set-piece, but some great backs work from Harrogate put their speedy winger Harry Parish through a gap and on his way to a 50m run.

Desperate Tynedale covering tackles managed to eventually bring him down, but Harrogate were awarded a penalty at the ensuing ruck and David Doherty, replacing the injured Charles Morgan, slotted his first penalty with ease to give Harrogate the lead.

The midfield battle raged on after the restart, but Tyne began to take the ascendancy as they began to utilise well-executed kicks deep into Harrogate’s half. On one such occasion, a Harrogate player attempting to return the ball to the centre of the park was duly cut down and Joe Mills forced a penalty with an excellent turnover on the visitor’s 22m. Ash Smith took the three points with ease to give Tyne a slim 10-9 lead.

As play resumed, Ash Smith, apparently inspired by his captain’s turnover, attempted one himself and reminded everyone why fly-halves don’t often attempt such feats: he was judged to be off his feet and sent straight to the sin-bin. As such, Tynedale went into the second half with fourteen men and a one point lead.

The second half brought further changes, with the evergreen Matty Outson on for Aedon Maloney, and Dan Taylor moving to fly-half in place of Ash ‘Robshaw’ Smith.

Harrogate brought a little more impetus to the second half, and quickly gained yet another penalty to allow them to kick for territory. From the line-out, the Yorkshiremen threw the ball right over their pack and into the arms of Doherty who was waiting past the 15m line. Whether on purpose or not, it led to some great work by Harrogate’s backs who looked like they were putting Tyne’s defence to the sword for the first time in the game. Dan Lowden seemingly decided he was having none of it though, as the replacement hooker shot out of the line, chopped Harrogate’s industrious number eight and forced a knock-on.

Mills once again showed why he’s Tyne’s interim captain, by carving his way through the visitor’s defence with a blistering 40m run. He tried to show a little too much his skill set, however, as an offload went flying forward and into the hands of the opposition. Fortunately for Tynedale, the referee penalised Harrogate for reasons unknown and Ash Smith, recently returned to the pitch after his breakdown crimes, kicked for touch and set up a line-out.

A seemingly well-executed back play from the set-piece fizzled out after the ref judged two Tyne players to be crossing. Once play had returned to the Harrogate half, Tynedale were again unlucky as a fine Will Miller offload, which could have potentially led to a try, was called as forward by the officials.

Tyne’s scrum was now making waves, allowing the backs to field a clever chip through into Harrogate’s 22m where their winger was forced into touch.

From the subsequent line-out, Tynedale camped in the visitor’s 22m, with pick-and-goes from the back of the ruck being held up agonisingly short.

Will Miller came close, but from the resulting breakdown Ben Haigh sniped his second try from a great line to bring Tyne up to 17-9; once Ash Smith converted.

Eight points down, Harrogate were incensed and wrestled the ball from the restart and began to stage a fight-back from within their own half. Bludgeoning runs and direct backs play eventually paid dividends as they pushed Tynedale back onto their own 22m where they won a penalty.

Shunning a punt at the sticks, they opted for the corner where a subsequent catch and maul looked like a sure 5-points for their bulky pack. Tyne miraculously stopped the rolling juggernaut on the line, but quick ball and some great thinking from Doherty saw him loop a pass out to Harry Parish who only had to stroll in, with Doherty adding the extras.

With just one point in the contest, Tynedale came out with all guns blazing, with link up play between Scotty Powell and Will Miller bringing the ‘Dale into the visitors’ half and Hadfield trying to take on everyone in the opposition’s defensive line. One such run practically sealed the game for Tyne as Harrogate were penalised and Smith took the three points.

The game was far from over, and some of Tyne’s best rugby was played in the closing exchanges. Jack Harrison nearly repeated his interception heroics of the first half, but fumbled, and Matty Outson was terrorising the Harrogate covering defence with clever chips from the base of the ruck.

Harrogate were forced into desperate measures, and from a 22m drop out tried to quickly tap and make a run for it. Unfortunately for centre Luke Edwards, but to the delight of the Tynedale faithful, he tripped, fumbled the ball and walked off looking rather sheepish.

From the resulting scrum, Scotty Powell powered his way towards the touchline and hoofed the ball into the stands, as the game closed 20-16 to the Tyne.

Performances of note:

Ben Haigh - Two tries says it all.
Joe Mills - Captain led from the front, turnovers especially.
Jack Harrison - Intercept got Tyne into the game.
Will Miller - Was his usual boisterous self. Boshed everyone.
Henry Hadfield - Same as Miller. Must be a Cumbrian thing.
Matty Outson - Great kicking game was the difference between the two sides.
Scott Powell - Always present in attack.