The Raiders claimed a second consecutive win but in the most unspectacular of circumstances against a stubborn and combative Morpeth Reivers side. Conditions played their part with cold showery spells throughout the match following the heavy rain rainfall of the previous few days. The pitch held up remarkably well but was obviously a challenge for both sides with numerous handling errors making multi-phase rugby very difficult.

The game kicked off with Tynedale drilling the ball deep into Morpeth territory and then exerting good defensive pressure to prevent the away team from escaping from their own half. In fact almost the entire half was played at the Morpeth end of the field and only a number of loose final passes or individual handling errors in contact prevented the Tynedale team from breaching the defence. Morpeth were defending gallantly but Tynedale seemed to either chose the wrong final option or lose the ball just when a score was looking likely.

Perhaps the key point in the match came on 33 minutes when at a ruck with Tynedale on the attack, a moment of madness from a Morpeth player left Tynedale tighthead prop with the prospect of an emergency trip to the dentist and Morpeth reduced to 14 men for the rest of the match. Despite the loss of Stephenson it was great to see fit again player-coach Colin Scullion come into the fray to put in a solid 50 minutes in the front row.
The remainder of the first half stayed scoreless despite the continued Raiders pressure and it was almost unbelievable that the sides would turn around at 0-0.

From the re-start, Tynedale showed good attacking intent and a nicely weighted cross-field kick from Tom Robson allowed Callum Morell and Sean Abrams to combine to nearly score but for a try-saving tackle from the Morpeth full-back. The game continued almost exclusively in Morpeth territory, but for one excursion into the Tynedale half where a penalty was conceded. Sadly for the away kicker, his strike sailed wide of the posts and still the game remained scoreless.

With just 16 minutes remaining and Morpeth desperately trying to exit their own 22, a clearance kick went awry and the industrious Jamie Dixon got to the bouncing ball first and dived over the line for what proved to be the only points of the match.
The remainder of the match was still played in Morpeth's half with no further score registered. Much credit must got go to Morpeth for putting up such a valiant defensive display despite playing for much of the game with a one-man disadvantage.

For Tynedale, the forwards really worked hard and it was pleasing to see both Dicky Dunn and man of the match Owen Shield carrying ball strongly and abrasively in the close quarters throughout.
The Raiders make the trip to Middlesbrough next week in the Candy League.