You would have to go back a lot of seasons to find two consecutive heavy defeats for Tynedale Raiders, but against a strong Morpeth 1st XV, who are adapting well to life in the North Premier league, this was always going to be an extremely tough challenge.
The challenge was made all the greater by the depletion of the regular Raiders squad owing to first team call-ups, injuries and unavailability's resulting in a number of backs particularly playing in new positions against a well organised and tough opposition.

The game was played out under Friday night flood lights and much credit must again go to groundsman Peter Simpson for his preparation of the pitch particularly given the heavy rainfall over the previous 24 hours.
From the kick off, Morpeth started brightly and on only 2 minutes their winger touched down for a converted try. This was followed only minutes later by another converted try by their opposite winger, the game only 6 minutes old and the young Raiders side trailing 14-0.

In a rare spell of concerted pressure, Tynedale then built a series of phases and the ever industrious Ben Blackburn crashed over for an unconverted try to give hope to the Raiders. Sadly this was the last score Tynedale were able to register against a combative Morpeth defence who went on to score 3 more first half tries plus a penalty to turn around with an unassailable 34-5 lead.

The second half mirrored the first as Morpeth took control of the game with tries coming at regular intervals making the final score an emphatic 61-5.

The Raiders effort could not be faulted but they ultimately game up against a side that were simply too strong on the night.
The Raiders will look to bounce back next week and get their season back on track with the visit of Sheffield Tigers in the Northern Pilot League.