From a 5 – 41 deficit well into the 50th minute, Mowden fought back bravely, only to fall short at the final whistle, 38 – 48, in a thoroughly entertaining evening contest at the Darlington Arena.

Tynedale showed their credentials in a very one-sided first half, with Mowden failing to put together a whole of team performance against a seasoned visiting outfit, who steadily built up a commanding lead, before Mowden found their exciting potential, with a clinical, fast-paced response, which had Tynedale hanging on in the end.

Honours were even in a very competitive opening 10-minute period, with both sides testing their respective defences in a mid-filed tussle.
There was no hint of what was to come, when the visitors opened the scoring after Mowden were caught offside, fly half Douglas to slot the penalty (0 – 3, 10 mins).

Douglas was again successful when Mowden were again penalised for a ruck infringement (0 – 6, 16 mins).
Tynedale’s Douglas, ultimately failing to miss any off his kicks at goal, amassing a personal total of 16 points, in a fine game for the player, with Tynedale awarding him their player of the match.

Mowden were soon to respond with their only points of a disappointing first half, when after a textbook catch and drive lineout, home scrum half DOUGLAS nipped in for the home sides opener (5 – 6, 23 mins) WARD converting (7 – 6, 24 mins).

From that point on, Tynedale could not put a foot wrong, helped by some uncharacteristic Mowden mistakes and fundamental ‘new squad’ issues, not helping their cause.

In a 10-minute period, Tynedale scored 3 unanswered tries, via flanker Rattray, No. 8 Richards and winger Roberts, all converted by an excellent Grant, to take the score to 7 – 27 at oranges.

Again, as had transpired the previous week against Scunthorpe RFC, the Mowden coaching staff were required to steady the ship and lift the home side from a poor first half performance.

Matters were compounded though, when after oranges, Tynedale ran in a further two tries in the next ten-minute period of play, through winger Dryden, then replacement hooker Haigh, both well converted by Grant (7 – 41, 50 mins).

Things looked ominous for the home side, when after a change of scrum half, with DYER replacing DOUGLAS, Mowden were on the front foot, taking the game to Tynedale, who were at this stage feelling confident, but tiring rapidly.

Firstly, home winger McCARTNEY forced his way over (12 – 41, 56 mins), converted by WARD (14 – 41, 57 mins).

Against the run of play, Tynedale scored a breakaway try via centre Miller (14 – 46, 59 mins), again converted by the metronomic Grant (14 – 48, 60 mins).

From that point on, Tyndale were under the cosh, with a resurgent Mowden side, buoyed by more front foot possession, spurred on by a large crowd (1,175, with add-ons from the spectators of the 2nd XV game with Tynedale RFC, on the back pitch).

Mowden began to apply try-line pressure on the visitors, so much so that on 65 mins, Tynedale brought down a Mowden rolling maul illegally, with the official awarding a penalty try (21 – 48).

Home hooker WOOD was at the back of a catch and try lineout to score (26 – 48, 69 mins), well converted by WARD, 70 mins).

Now, well in the driving seat despite the mountain to climb, Mowden pressed forward, with this time WARD gliding over, converting his own try (33 – 48, 74 mins).

With the clock running down, Tynedale were down and out, giving away a succession of penalties with such regularity that visiting lock DUNN rightfully receiving a yellow card, which could easily have been repeated with another, as Tyndale’s defence became more desperate.

The relentless pressure from Mowden was rewarded with a strong carry from home No. 8 UZOKWE, who squeezed into the corner (38 – 48, 78 mins).

With Mowden pressing for a deserved extra point, Mowden looked to score again, but time was up, and the home side had to settle for the 4-try bonus point.

Attendance – 1,175
Man of the Match – Reuben DYER (DMPRFC)