Tynedale 23 Stourbridge 14

Mar 27 2011 by Mark Smith, Sunday Sun

TYNEDALE leapfrogged their West Midland visitors after battling to an attritional National One home victory.

A mid-table scrap on a grey afternoon was never going to set the pulse racing, and so it proved as an efficient but unspectacular Tynedale inched their way to victory.

The late withdrawal of Gavin Beasley meant scrum-half Matty Outson assuming fly-half duties for the day, and the youngster gave a creditable fist of it by taking flat ball and keeping the Stourbridge defence guessing.

A slow start saw neither side trouble the scorers until half-an-hour in, with a sin-binning apiece being the main points of note in a low-key opening.

Home scrum-half Harry Peck was his usual box of tricks with a string of quick-taps and jinking runs, although the scoring pass just would not stick as left-wing Alan Rogers fumbled what had seemed a certain try.

The deadlock was finally broken by the visiting side as full-back James Hearn slotted a straightforward penalty – Outson hitting back almost straightaway to level the scores.

Tyne finally seized the initiative with the very last play of the half as a scrum on the 22 saw the ball worked out to the right, where Dutch full-back Sep Visser atoned for his earlier yellow card to dive in at the corner.

Determined to build on their 8-3 interval lead, Outson’s penalty saw double figures reached just three minutes after the break.

Prop-forward Billy Moss crossed for Stourbridge’s only try of the afternoon down the left after a fortuitous ricochet off a Tynedale player landed in the visitors’ hands, but the comeback did not last for long.

Visser pounced for his second try on 53 minutes after turning on the turbo-jets. Outson converted, but soon found himself in the sin-bin for killing a ruck inside his 22.

Hearn’s penalty made the score 18-11, and soon shortly after narrowed the gap to four.

The home side put paid to any hopes of a Stourbridge victory, however, with Rogers scoring their third try of the day.