CaNDY League
Greenwood Road, Billingham
9th September 2023
Billingham Lions 32 Tynedale Raiders 24
LIONS RAISE THE BAR
Following last week's opening 5-point win at Middlesbrough, Tynedale Raiders travelled again to Teesside, this time taking on the Lions under the hot Billingham sun.
The opening phase promised much and set the scene for a tight contest. Lions crossed the whitewash first on ten minutes, only for Raiders to drive over impressively five minutes later, with hooker Bruce Dunn dotting down and Nico Sykes converting. At 7-7 Lions realised they were in for a game, so much so that they turned to the tee at the next opportunity to push into a 10-7 lead. The two sides frustrated one another until the half-hour mark, when Billingham crossed for five more points and then, right on the half-time whistle, scored again to take a healthy lead into the break. Half-time: 22-7
From the restart, Raiders fought hard to get back into the game, with Bruce Dunn scoring again after ten minutes to make it 22-12. The heat then played its part, with two Raiders players becoming a little hot under the collar in separate incidents and both seeing yellow. Raiders dug deep and managed to shut Lions out at every turn, and it was the Northumbrians who determinedly scored next on 35 minutes, with Noah Fleming adding a try to make it 22-17. Only five minutes left on the clock. Manic minutes as it turned out. First, on 37 minutes, Billingham reached once more for the tee to claim three points and an eight-point advantage, hoping that this would surely be enough to close out the match, however the men in blue & white had other ideas. Powerful forward play resulted in Joe Hanning barrelling over the line, with extras from Sykes, to make it 25-24 with just a minute or so to play. Raiders just fell short. After consultation with the touch judge, the referee awarded a final try in the corner to Billingham in the last act of the game, smartly converted from the touchline.
Raiders almost stole the show, but the pride of Lions persevered. Full time: 32-24
Tries:
B. Dunn (2), Fleming, Hanning
Conversions:
Sykes (2)
Team
15) N. Fleming 14) W. Jonas, 13) A. Murray, 12) T. Robson, 11) N. Abrams, 10) N. Sykes, 9) N. da Silva
1) M. Hughes, 2) B. Dunn, 3) T. Donnelly, 4) R. Dunn, 5) J. Hanning, 6) J. Cousin, 7) H Aitkenhead, 8) J. Brown (C) 16) R. Craney, 17) B. Harris, 18) , R. Earnshaw, 19) J. Binovec, 20) D. Heppell 21) H. Askwith 22) R. Hall 23) S. Jansen
Ian Hiles (Raiders Manager)