On a bright, blustery day at Corbridge a young Raiders team demonstrated the playing strength in the club, overcoming Whitley Bay Rockcliff 1stXV who play in Durham/Northumberland Division 1. The victory means the Raiders will now host Morpeth 1stXV in the semi-final - the match scheduled to be played on Saturday 2nd November.
The Raiders, playing into a strong breeze, were on the defensive for the opening exchanges and quickly fell behind when WBR converted the second of two early penalty opportunities. Th score seemd to lift the Tynedale youngsters and after a series of dominant scrums they crossed to take a 5-3 lead. With the Raiders looking comfortable in defence and dangerous in attack it was no surprise when they scored a second opportunist try, which was converted, to make the score 12-3 after 20 minutes.
In truth the outcome of the match was never subsequently in doubt as the Tyne youngsters appeared to have the upperhand in all departments.
Playing with the wind in the scond half the Raiders quickly underlined their superiority and with 20 minutes still to go four further tries had taken the score to 38-3. To WBR's credit they didnt let their heads go down and, playing their best rugby of the match, were rewarded with two tries in the last five minutes to add some respectability to the scoreline.