These well-matched teams produced another exciting encounter but, the visitors always had the edge and were able to pull off a their first "double" of the season.

After only ten minutes Rhys Loughead, dangerous throughout, picked and drove powerfully to half-way and linked nicely with centre Henry White. The big centre kicked for the corner, fielded the ball himself, swapped passes with winger Charlie Trim, then touched down wide out.

Novos, always dangerous, pressed but were met by a stiff defence, well martialled by skipper Jake Sloan. Flankers Mark Smales and Rob Earnshaw were regularly able to produce turn-over ball allowing Rory Dixon and Jonathan Gormley to counter-attack from long range.

Good work by Ian Charlton allowed Michael Ramsay and Steven Blair to drive into the Novos half. From the resulting ruck Sam Harrison, Lewis Sparke, Dan Kerr and Sloan produced an intricate move that saw Kerr race home unopposed from 30 metres.

Just before the break, a quickly taken penalty by the mercurial Harrison was fed to Dixon who threw a beautiful pass to Trim. The winger showed raw pace from 50 metres to outstrip the defenders and score in the right-hand corner. Kerr managed to land all three difficult conversions for a 0-21 lead at half-time.

Playing up the slight slope in the second-half, against a side bolstered by full and powerful replacements bench, the Centurions found things much tougher.

An early try settled the nerves after Rory Craney, James Brown and Kael Horton carried the ball under the posts after a line out. Awarded a scrum, the dominant Tynedale pack might have gone for the push-over but scrum-half "Moses" Harrison picked, threw an extravagant dummy, and the defence parted like the Red Sea as he darted over.

This cushion was needed as the home side redoubled their efforts and were given hope when they scored after a kick and chase. However, the Centurions defence held firm and with some excellent relieving kicks from Kerr, Dixon, Earnshaw and even prop forward Sparke, they were able to defend their hard-earned lead. With the last play of the game, a quick tap and go saw the home side get a richly deserved consolation score but, this was too little, too late.