Tynedale Raiders bounced back to winning ways in style following their Tuesday night close loss to a Durham University outfit.

The Raiders were again stretched in terms of their squad depth, with 1st XV call-ups and injuries from Tuesday night's match taking their toll. In contrast, Harrogate arrived at Tynedale with a full 22-man compliment; bolstered by their 1st XV game at Carlisle being postponed, so they will have fancied their chances of taking away the points in this opening round of the Northern Pilot League.

The game was played out in near perfect conditions and on an exceptional 1st XV surface which is testament to the work of groundsman Peter Simpson and his team.

The Raiders kicked off with the breeze at their backs and the autumn sun off their shoulder. However, it was the Harrogate side who started the brighter with a series of strong carries by their sizeable back-row. The early signs for Tynedale looked ominous, however an excellent scramble defence from the Raiders to prevent an almost certain score seemed to galvanise the side.

After 20 minutes of play, having absorbed a number of Harrogate attacks, the Raiders found themselves with a decent spell of possession in the Harrogate half and following over 20 phases of controlled play and close quarter drives, they moved the ball wide for winger Callum Morrell to dive in. A superb touchline conversion from Cam Grant making it 7-0.
The rest of the half was played out with both sides playing an expansive brand of rugby but ultimately the defences held firm and the Raiders turned round with a single score lead.

With less than 5 minutes of the second half played, Harrogate managed to break free from half-way and ran a score into the corner through their three-quarters which they were unable to convert, 7-5.
Similarly to the first half, the next period was all Harrogate but the Raiders tackling and competitiveness at the break-down was superb and the Yorkshire side could not find a way through. When Tynedale did get some phases of possession they moved the ball wide for Callum Morrell to once again squeeze in the corner, this time Grant was unable to convert, 12-5.

The next score was always going to be crucial and it was the Raiders who now looked the more likely against the bigger and heavier opposition. The excellent John Clarkson sniping through a gap at a ruck base on the opposition 10m line and beating several defenders with quick feet to dive in under the posts for Grant to convert, 19-5 with 15 minutes left to play.

Harrogate were not giving up and continued to hammer their heavy ball carriers into contact. Again, the tackling was exceptional by all with Ed Craney in particular leading the way with a fine demonstration of low and hard chop-tackling.
On 33 minutes a fine break by outside centre, and man of the match Rory Cramb, got the Raiders deep into Harrogate territory. From the ensuing set piece, the Tynedale team went through a number of drives close to the line and Dicky Dunn eventually broke through to score, again converted by Grant. 26-5 the final score line.

All in all, this was Tynedale Raiders finest team performance for some seasons with spectators treated to a hard, disciplined and skilful display. The whole squad can be really proud of their efforts and look forward to the difficult trip to Alnwick next week.