Last updated at 09:10, Monday, 08 March 2010

ON a pitch like a half-reclaimed polder, Tynedale were outplayed and out-thought by their nemesis from just down the Tyne Valley on Sunday.

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Blaydon 13, Tynedale 11.

This win means Blaydon have won three of their last four derby games against Tynedale – and they should have won the fourth.

As the rain lashed down, and players became unrecognisable, Blaydon were seldom out of their own half in the second period.

While the Blaydon half of the field looked like the Passchendaele trenches, the Tynedale half was unsullied, with the virgin 22 looking like a St Andrew’s putting green.

Tynedale enjoyed all the second half possession, but they seemed at a loss to know what to do with it.

Both sides kicked endlessly, but while Blaydon invariably followed up their kicks to put the receiver under pressure on a filthy day when handling was already tricky, the Tynedale chasing was lame and laboured.

Tynedale’s kicks – even restarts – were always too far ahead of the chasing players, while Tynedale tended to receive man and ball at the same time.

They also kicked the ball directly into touch from outside the 22 far too often, and the line-out did not work with its usual well-oiled precision.

Blaydon seemed more fired up for the occasion, and made far fewer mistakes, leaving that to Tynedale.

The score was 13-11 to Blaydon at the interval, and that was the way it stayed, as for 40 minutes, Tynedale tried to prise open the clam that was the Blaydon defence.

Blaydon defended heroically, but their task was made easier by Tynedale’s frequent fumbles and rampant white line fever.

On several occasions, players who should have known better went for glory, with unmarked men outside them.

It was not a day for ambitious handling movements, but poor winger Peter Cole was left out in the cold on the wing far more than he should have been.

Several times, he called for the crossfield kicks into the in-goal area, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

It wasn’t Cole’s day for he was also let down by his equipment on one of the few occasions he got the ball in the first half.

He burst through two tackles, with only clear space between him and the try line, but a Blaydon player grabbed a handful of his shirt and just managed to hold him back.

The same thing could not have happened to a Blaydon player, as they were wearing the skin-tight modern shirts

Blaydon were playing a dangerous game, eschewing any form of attack to defence their slender lead, but their discipline in the second half was impeccable.

They only conceded one penalty in remotely kickable range in such appalling conditions, and Gavin Beasley put it wide.

It did seem briefly that the Tynedale pressure had paid off when Tynedale muscled their way over, and skipper Joe Graham touched down, but referee Richard Kelly ruled the try out, seeming to indicate a double movement, but no-one was really sure.

The Blaydon players’ joy was unrestrained at the final whistle, as they had racked up a memorable win against a side three places above them in National League Division One.

The official attendance was 1,021, a figure that will raise some eyebrows among those who were there.

Their “tin shed” stand only holds 250 and there certainly did not seem to be another 750+ braving the elements round the pitch.

In head to head matches in cup and league over the last nine years, Tynedale have had the edge overall, winning 10 and Blaydon seven, but perhaps significantly, Blaydon have won six of the last nine.

The game was put back by 24 hours, as Tynedale had three players – front row forwards Johnny Williams and Joe Graham, and centre Jack Harrison – in action for the English Counties against the Irish Clubs XV at Stourbridge on Friday night, and Blaydon also had three players on representative duty.

All three Tynedale men came through the win at Stourbridge unscathed, and started at Crow Trees.

The only absentee from the selected team was giant prop Kieran Brookes, who was replaced at the last minute by the formidable Douglas Jupp.

Tynedale started impressively, when Jamie Murray peeled off the back of a scrum and made good ground, but when he was tackled, he was penalised for hanging on to the ball, and Blaydon winger Adam Armstrong slotted the penalty to give Blaydon the advantage in the first minute.

Tynedale came back strongly with a good run from Hamish Smales which Blaydon did well to withstand.

After eight minutes, Blaydon were penalised in front of their own posts, and Gavin Beasley slotted the simple penalty.

And four minutes later, Beasley was on target again from the tee, when Blaydon were caught handling on the ground.

The heightened derby atmosphere got through to the players, and there was a lot of macho pushing and shoving early on, before Blaydon flanker Kerry Wood was given 10 minutes in the sin bin to cool his heels.

However, the 14 men of Blaydon quickly produced the move of the game to score a superb opening try.

The powerful James Fitzpatrick made light of the conditions with a magnificent run from deep, before finding scrum half Tom Rock coming in at an angle to wrong foot the Tynedale defence and touch down for a try.

Armstrong converted, and Blaydon led 10-6.

Tynedale came storming back, and spent several minutes camped on the Blyth line, before second row forward Andrew Murray, managed to force his way over wide out.

Beasley’s conversion attempt faded away, but Tynedale were back in front at 11-10.

After half an hour, hesitation by Tynedale full back James Hoyle saw him caught in possession, and he compounded the error by hanging on to the ball.

Armstrong landed the penalty, and Blaydon led 13-11.

On the stroke of half time, Jamie Murray was sin-binned for killing the ball, but a two-point deficit did not seem insurmountable.

It shouldn’t have been, but dogged Blaydon defence, and Tynedale’s shortcomings meant it was not to be.

Several times, Tynedale seemed sure to score as the pressure reached boiling point, but each time,they messed up.

The put-in at a five metre scrum looked promising, but it ended with a Blaydon player stealing the ball, and running half the length of the field before being brought down.

Knock-ons were well into double figures by the end, as Blaydon hung on to complete a rare double over Tynedale.

First published at 09:45, Friday, 05 March 2010
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk