On what was weekend of mourning, Tynedale RFC took two teams the short distance to Crow tree’s the home of Blaydon RFC. The Raiders had an early kick off of 2pm, there was a minute of silence and black armbands were worn to mourn the Passing of her Majesty, Elizabeth II.

The Game kicked off with great spirits and gamesmanship, with both teams enjoying a fair share of the possession. It was 10 minutes in when Tynedale first crossed the whitewash. A strong first scrum from Tyne with the two props of Josh Dunlop and David O’Neil enjoying there first run out of the season gave the backs front front ball which was wizzed out to the wing for fullback James Ferguson to cross for his first try, Cam grant converted.

Tynedale’s next three tries came in quick succession with our backs looking slick, feeding off the Tyne forwards working relentlessly powering into the blaydon forwards. Our inside centre cam grant went over the line in splendid fashion with a chip and chase. Then was the turn of outside centre ‘Jez’ Civil to cross the line twice with feetwork that wouldn’t be mistaken on the strictly come dancing stage.

Then came a long period of Blaydon attack, hammering the Tynedale defensive line . But lead by captain Jacob Brown the Tynedale forwards managed to keep the blaydon attack down with some crunching tackles. Eventually Hooker Ralph Johnson won the turn over and the ball was once again whipped out into the backs where Ferguson crossed for his second. Then on the stroke of half time Cam Grant crossed the line but not in the fashion of a usual centre, this time a pick and go. Showing the forwards how they are supposed to score tries.

The second half kicked off with similar fashion with No.8 Charlie Richard’s leaping like a salmon to claim the kickoffs. For the first time there was a forward on the score sheet. Dicky hall made a break through the middle, the man with the shortest legs on the pitch managed to offload to the ball to the man with the longest, Will Nankivell managed to tame his giraffe like legs to stride in for a special score.

The backs then felt like they had to top that effort. Blaydon cleared there lines which fullback Ferguson claimed under pressure in his own 22. Then like a ballerina he twisted and turned his whole way up the pitch to dot down under the posts for his hatrick. Then came a flurry of tries from Seamus Hutton, Callum Morrell and Tom Robson.

Blaydon then had a good spell with the ball, battering the Tyne defence making yards up the pitch. A well timed moved opened up the tynedale defence like the Red Sea and Blaydon dotted down under the posts. The Tyne lads reacted well and with the last play of the game and some silky football skills James Ferguson manage to grab try number four. A great day from the boot for Cam Grant managing to convert ten out of twelve tries.

A full time score of 80-5 did not do justice to the game, the Blaydon lads never gave up with a lot of young faces in the team and some great attacking shape, they will be a team for the future. After a game that was won by the backs it was the forwards which deserve credit for giving them quick and safe ball to run ragged with. Man of the match for his performance was captain Jacob Brown.

Next week the scheduled opposition were Sheffield Tigers but unfortunately the Tigers are experiencing lots of injury issues so cant make it. The Raiders are still looking for a fixture. The Centurions have a weekend off but the colts are travelling away to Hawick.

1.Josh Dunlop 2.Ralph Johnson 3.David O’Neil 4.Dicky Dunn 5.Will Nankivell 6.Dicky Hall 7. Jacob Brown. 8.Charlie Richards 9.Jake Turnbull 10.Thomas Beattie 11.Seamus Hutton 12.Cam Grant 13.Jez Civil 14.Tom Robson 15.