Tynedale vs Harrogate

The result gave their supporters something to cheer about in their dreadful situation. Harrogate front row problems were at the root of all that went wrong for them. Wedding commitments had again made Ben Reaveley unavailable and, when Conor Ward injured himself in the warm up, Harrogate had to field a makeshift front row.

The match opened with high octane Harrogate running. Sound forward groundwork produced good ball and a Callum Irvine break was well supported. Full back Barry Frost came into the line to make the extra man and Harry Barnard outpaced the defence for his maiden Harrogate try. Harrogate’s scrum was already conceding penalties and an Ash Smith kick gave Tynedale their first points.

Sustained forward pressure led to Harrogate’s second and last try. A well controlled driving maul ended with a Guy Coser try which put them 3-10 ahead but they continued to concede scrum penalties and Smith’s second penalty made it 6-10. Harrogate were now defending desperately and Guy Coser was yellow carded for a technical offence. Almost immediately, Andy Boyde followed him into the bin and Harrogate were reduced to 13 men with substitute hooker, Tom Larder coming on to prop. On the stroke of half time, a Tynedale attack was well supported by substitute prop Ben Haigh whose try gave the home side an 11-10 lead at the break.

Weather conditions were a factor in what was to follow. Harrogate had played into a strong wind in the first half but this dropped after the interval and the second half was played in torrential rain. Tynedale attacked from the kick-off and the ball was spun right for winger James Clark to score a converted try. More home pressure followed and stand-off, Matt Outson darted through the defence for their final converted try. Harrogate continued to compete but substitute flanker Tom White was deemed to have thrown a punch in a melee on the ground and was unfortunately red carded.

Tynedale: Parker, Walker, Smith, Harrison, Clark, Outson, Taylor, Southern, Frankland, Westgarth, Cousin, Dunn, Bell, Cairns, Powell. Subs:- Haigh, Batey, Johnson, Duncan, Dixon

Harrogate: Frost, Bottomley, Minikin, Edwards, Barnard, Irvine, Wickham, Boyde, Maycock, Purkiss-McEndoo,
J Brady, S Brady, J Coser, G Coser, Heaton. Subs:- Larder, Ward, White, Lansdall, London

Referee: Will Halford (RFU)

Match report by Bill Barrack