On what is one of the fiercest rivalry’s the Raiders have in their calendar, this weekend saw Tynedale take a 18 man squad north to Alnwick RFC. Both sides had many injuries and unavailabilitys throughout the entire squad but both managed to get a strong side out for the fixture. The weather as usual up the north coast was unpredictable as the heavens opened 3 minutes prior to kickoff, which made ball handling also unpredictable.

Tyne kicked off into the wind playing towards the club house. In what was a fast, end to end game, with both teams enjoyed good spells of the possession. It was Alnwick who dotted down first when there forwards powered over from close range for a converted score.
Tynedale were quick to reply when sustained pressure from the forwards on the Alnwick 5m line was eventually touched down under the posts from none other than winger Callum Morrell whose line cut open the Alnwick defence like a hot knife through butter. Dan Kerr added the two points.

Like all Tyne/Aln derbys the were no small collisions with both 15’s going hammer and tong at each other. Next up to score was the Alnwick winger who created space to work it down the width for a converted score. But in true Tyne fashion the visitors worked their way back up the pitch for Jack ‘bruiser’ Bullen to power over from a 1cm out pick and go. Half time score 14-12 to Alnwick.

The second half kicked off with Alnwick hammering the Tynedale defence. With a well worked try out to the right, it left the Tynedale lads under the posts scratching their heads wondering where their left winger was. After a quick head count it was clear winger Jamie Dixon had substituted himself off and was sat on the sidelines talking to coach Ben Archer who hadn’t noticed there was 4 subs sat next to him in the second half - rather than the three in the first. After a missed conversion Tyne made the numbers back up to 15.

The second half was even more of a physical battle with discipline starting to dwindle. Tynedale were awarded 6 different penalty advantages within a 2 minute spell of pressure on the Alnwick line. Eventually play was stopped when the referee blew his whistle for Tynedale’s Number 7 Dicky Hall who gave his best rendition of Michael Flattley’s Lord of the Dance on the back of the opposing number 6 who unfortunately found himself on the wrong side of the ruck. After some amount of discussion and finger pointing Tynedale regained the penalty which they kicked to the corner and again ‘Bruiser’ Bullen powered over from the driving maul. Kerr converted 19-19

Next came the heroics of the Tyne fullback Rory ‘Sonny Bill’ Dixon who cleared up a long kick from Alnwick in his 22 and with the whole field to run at he ran straight into the only attacker close. Then came the best pass of his career when he through a ball out the back door to land straight into the arms of the Alnwick winger who walked under the posts to give a easy conversion to Alnwick.

In true form Tyne were quick to respond with Man of the Match, and scrum half Ewan Morrell, skipping his way up the pitch to set up another try for his brother Callum to crash through again untouched to dot down under the posts. Converted to level the score at 26 points each.

Time was starting to tick away and both teams looked like scoring the next points. It was Tynedale, however, who had more of the possession and territory but Alnwick who had the touch of magic which could run the length of the pitch to score. Tynedale’s persistence eventually paid off when the forwards kept a hold of the ball for what seemed like an age, young back row Jamie Hiles wiggled his way over to score the try and Kerr secured the all important two points.

With 7 minutes left on the clock it was the Alnwick substitute centre with a touch of magic seemed to step 13 out of the 15 Tynedale players and run the length of the pitch to score out to the right. This left a difficult conversion for the Alnwick kicker, who struck the ball well and hit the post. The hearts of all Tynedale players and supporters were in their mouths when the ball seemed to pinball around the crossbar and posts before landing the wrong side of the posts. Tyne 33 Alnwick 31

The last 5 minutes seemed to last longer than the previous 75 when the Tynedale players stuck the ball up their jumpers to try retain possession till the clock went red. Eventually Tynedale won a penalty on half way and the ball was tapped and booted out hard as the tired legs of Micky Hall could swing.

The game was played in a ferocious, fiery and frantic fashion, with often no punches held back. But as the game finished there was handshakes, cuddles and plenty beers changed hands. Tynedale look forward to their return fixture at home later in the season.

1.Jack Bullen 2.Toby Jowett. 3.Owen loughhead 4.Charlie Richards 5.Dicky Dunn 6. Jamie Hiles 7.Dicky Hall 8. Jacob Brown 9. Ewan Morrell 10. Dan Kerr 11. Jamie Dixon 12.Micky Hall(c) 13. Thomas Williams 14. Callum Morrell 15. Rory Dixon 16. Will Jonas 17. Stevie Irving 18. Archie Robinson

Report by Sport Correspondent Micky Hall