Tynedale Hadrians would come out on top in a close-fought game at Sutherland Park on Saturday, November 18.

Against the backdrop of 'The Ministry', Tynedale Hadrians took on Novocastrians 2nd XV in a muddy affair, between two very well-matched sides.

The pitch had been thoroughly 'warmed up' by the excellent earlier encounter between Novos Ladies and West Park Leeds Ladies, leaving conditions underfoot somewhat challenging, and leaving some pining for longer studs just moments into the contest.

Hadrians made a wizardly start, with Adam Todhunter breaking the Novos line on five minutes after some fine work from Rory Dixon to seemingly summon a gap from nowhere. Todhunter added the extras from in front of the posts.

Novos fought back quickly, forcing Tynedale into defending a relentless onslaught in the red zone. Novos' persistence paid off., levelling the scores on 15 minutes.

Hadrians took the lead once more on 25 minutes with Dixon finding his way to the try line after several attempts from Tynedale’s forwards were repelled by some charmed Novos defending of their try line.

A spellbinding Todhunter kick from the right made it 7-14. Novos earned themselves a chat from the referee in the build-up to the try, and this proved costly shortly after the restart with a yellow card shown for a further offence.

With just 10 minutes of the half remaining, Tyne looked to capitalise on their numerical advantage however were unable to do so, and it was Novos who found a way through, adding five more points on the stroke of half-time.

Half-time 12 - 14

The second half picked up where the first left off as both sides enjoyed spells of dominance, and both teams held firm in defence. Hadrians huffed and puffed to dominate the scrum, bolstered by the reassignment of Charlie Richards to the back row, and on 60 minutes it was scrum-half Sam Harrison whose sniping sorcery almost bedazzled the onlookers, only to be thwarted by running into a post pad.

In the next phase, however, Tyne extended their lead with Richards slithering over and Todhunter making it three from three from the tee. Just like that.

There were no further scores in the match, however Tynedale's Ben Carter made a spirited debut in adult rugby from the bench, adding further sparkle to yet another fine Hadrians performance.

Full-time 12 - 21

Tries:
A. Todhunter
R. Dixon
C. Richards

Conversions:
A. Todhunter (3)

Team:
15) N. da Silva, 14) N Abrams, 13) R. Dixon, 12) C. Richards, 11) A. Todhunter, 10) D. Kerr, 9) S. Harrison,
1) C. Rutherford, 2) H. Hayes, 3) R. Craney, 4) J. Sample, 5) H. Askwith (C), 6) R. Dunn, 7) W. Jonas, 8) J. Hiles

Replacements:
16) B. Carter, 17) J. Brown, 18) A. Purves