Leaders see off Bees up front

Tynedale scored 33 unanswered second-half points to continue their seemingly unstoppable march to the National League Three North title.

The home side abandoned their attempts to play free-flowing rugby at half-time and simply put the ball in their forwards and steam-rollered over the Bees pack for four of their second-half scores, with a fifth and final score of the half coming through open play to close out the victory.

The final scoreline perhaps flatters the home side, who could not break down the Bees defence for the first 40 minutes as numerous moves through the backline were repelled by some effective Bees tackling or petered out as the Tynedale side ran up a blind alley.

The Bees opened the scoring on nine minutes through a Tom Rhodes penalty but no sooner had the Bees lined up to receive the kick-off than the men in blue and white were rumbling over in the right-hand corner for a try from hooker Matthew Fieldhouse.

With a blustery breeze at their backs, the Bees relied on Tom Rhodes to kick them into several useful attacking positions but with their line-out malfunctioning badly, they could not keep the home side pinned back for long enough to claim a try.

However, on two of their visits to the oppposition 22, Rhodes was able to first claim the lead and then extend it to 9-5 through penalties after 31 and 39 minutes.

Almost straight from the restart, it was evident that Tynedale had changed tactics and were now looking to drive through the middle and not look to their wide men for the scores.

The Bees scrummage was beginning to creak and Tynedale increasingly had the upper hand at each ruck and maul.

The visitors held out for ten minutes but then, as a scrum close to the line wheeled, Andrew Murray had a simple flop over the line to put the home side in front.

Eight minutes later Fieldhouse claimed a second score for himself, rumbling over the line under a pile of his team-mates, with Phil Belgian's second conversion of the day improving the score to 19-9.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, Tynedale claimed the bonus point with their fourth score, another rumble from close range leading to Jonny Williams bagging the five points.

It was not all one-way traffic as the Bees made several game attempts to break out of the deadlock, with Sione Onesi, Richard Tafa and Stuart Dixon all trying to bullock their way through the home defence.

For all the Bees efforts though, Tynedale remained firmly in control and asserted their ascendancy with two final scores from Ben Duncan and Mark Laycock.