Report from our Special Correspondent (Martyn Hastie):-
On a glorious Easter Saturday both teams contributed to a wonderfully entertaining Candy Vase final. The main difference was behind the pack where the home side welcomed back several of last years winning County Colts Cup winners who showed loads of flair and pace to score freely. By way of contrast, the Centurions threequarter line included four press-ganged forwards who were able to defend initial attacks but were overwhelmed when quickly recycled ball was moved with bewildering speed.

The home side scored five scintillating tries in the first half but the Centurions hard work saw them gain field position and score three of their own to leave them hanging on at 33-17. All of these followed quickly taken penalties in the Ponteland 22 metre area. Oliver Hillary rang strongly to feed Ethan McLeod who although held up short managed to produce good rucked ball that Andy Stevens whipped wide right for Jack Robson to glide over. Hillary then drove and jinked his way close and Micky Hall spread the ball to Mark Smales out wide on the left wing to beat two men to score. Hall then jinked close to the line and as the ball ran loose at the ruck the powerful Owen Shield picked up and was unstoppable from ten metres out.

In the second period Tynedale began to wilt in the heat and Ponteland ran the ball from everywhere on the pitch. Only some fine last ditch tackling from Joe Richards, Jake Sloan and Spencer Gorman restricted them to four tries. One in particular was out of the top drawer from behind their own try line with magnificent handling and support play it involved a dozen players and was a joy to behold.

However the introduction of veterans Andy Purves and Ian Charlton in the final fifteen minutes saw a revived spirit in the tiring forwards and they managed two late tries that their efforts thoroughly deserved. A fine drive by Phil Scandle was continued by Callum Foxcroft and Tom Dilworth before Charlton was held up over the line. The front row of Scandle, Owen Loughead and Jason Armstrong continued their domination in the scrum as they powerfully drove for the line and Hall picked up to dive over.

In the final move of the match Loughead and Armstrong carried close to the line and Chis Nicholls slid over to touch down. This gave his dad Dave Nicholls, playing in his final match, the opportunity to add a wobbly conversion, a lovely end to a smashing game, well refereed and played in a fine spirit by both sides.