Last updated at 11:09, Friday, 24 October 2008

INJURED World Cup wonderboy Jonny Wilkinson limped out of his Slaley hideaway to taste rugby a little closer to grassroots level than at Kingston Park.

Tynedale 29, Southend 20.

And it's hard to know what the Falcons fly half must have thought of the experience at Corbridge, as, whipped on by a wind strong enough to blow an Essex girl out of her white stilettos, Tynedale maintained their 100 per cent home record against Southend.

And although it was backs who scored the tries, the plaudits for this 30th successive home win should rest with the Tynedale front row.

Props and hookers practise the blackest of dark arts, and the endless toil of being compressed between eight massive athletes in front of you, and six behind you, often does not get the recognition it deserves.

So step forward Joe Graham and Rupert Harden who between them kept Tynedale in this game when they were struggling in the opening 20 minutes of the second half.

Time and time again. they slugged their way upfield, into the wind, fighting their way out of trouble yard after heartbreaking yard.

Other forwards toiled hard too, but it was these two who always seemed to be making the hard yards.

It was Graham, lightning fast, with a good rugby brain, who eventually got the sponsors' man of the match award, but Harden must have pushed him close.

The big prop would win few sprint titles, but he has a heart the size of Jupiter.

Tynedale were still without their Newcastle Falcons loan quartet of Eni Gesinde, Rob Miller, Johnny Williams and Danny Williams, and joining them on the sick list was mighty Ben Marshall, the lock who has become such a key figure in the Tynedale ranks in the last couple of years.

New signing Kevin Showler partnered Andrew Murray in the second row, but Tynedale's line-out never functioned well throughout the game.

Things became so bad, Tynedale even stopped kicking for position, opting to eat up time with penalty scrums rather than eating up the yards with positional kicks.

The continued absence of club skipper Phil Belgian was also keenly felt, with scrums also chosen when three points would have been well within the compass of his mighty boot.

Tynedale began with the wind at their backs, but within a minute, the chill wind of disappointment was whistling through the packed stand.

Southend launched a counter attack from within their own half, and the Tynedale tackling melted away like a 99 in Namibia as the exciting Southend centre Tom Casson dummied and side stepped his way through to touch down close to the posts.

Full back Andy Frost's conversion attempt dipped and bobbed like a flat stone being skimmed over a pond, but it went over, and Tynedale knew they had a game on their hands.

They regrouped, urged on by the powerful figure of Greg Irvin at number eight, and won a fourth minute penalty.

It was taken quickly, and a long pass from fly half Gavin Beasley picked out full back Jack Smales who skipped in from 15 metres out. Beasley converted and the sides were level.

Three minutes later, Beasley had a chance to put Tynedale in front when Southend were offside, but he missed the relatively simple wind assisted 30m penalty.

A good run by Graham earned a promising line out, but the ball was knocked on.

Tynedale did go ahead on 20 minutes, when a Southend counter attack was halted by a bone-jarring double tackle which shook the ball loose.

It was snapped up by Beasley, who whipped out a long pass to winger Peter Cole, who cantered in for the try.

Beasley's conversion again hit the post, but this time stayed out.

Two minutes later, Beasley kicked into space, and Cole was on to the loose ball in a flash, demonstrating cool footballing skills by hacking the ball on from 30 metres, and touching down just inside the dead ball line.

Beasley's conversion seemed to have put Tynedale into the box seat at 19-7, but Southend were far from finished.

Six minutes before the interval, they earned generous applause even from the Tynedale fans when they ran the ball from behind their own posts, and with backs as slippery as a pot of jellied eels, got to within five metres of the Tynedale line before being bundled into touch.

There were further alarums when Tynedale lost the ensuing line-out, putting themselves under considerable pressure before conceding a penalty.

The ill discipline which has plagued Tynedale all season surfaced again, and the kick was marched forward 10 metres when someone spoke out of turn, allowing Frost to land an easy kick to make it 19-10 at the break.

There was a susurration of unease in the Tynedale crowd, for a nine point lead into the wind did not seem a lot.

Three minutes in, a flurry of punches from prop Peter Southern earned Southend a penalty, and Frost cut the gap to just six points.

Perhaps surprisingly, Southern escaped a yellow card, which is perhaps just as well, as Tynedale's disciplinary record is already the worse in the league.

In just six matches before this, they had picked up nine yellow cards - one more than in the whole of last season.

Southend had their tails up and for the next 15 minutes, never left the Tynedale half, as Tynedale's defensive qualities were really put to the test.

Then came the fightback, with Graham and Harden in the van, and on 23 minutes, Tynedale started to hit back.

A run by Southern, and good backing saw the ball spun left, where a huge overlap had developed and Smales was there to skip in for his second try.

Beasley converted, and for the first time. Southend started to look rattled.

Prop Stef North was lucky to escape censure when he took out scrum half Ross Samson with a forearm smash Steve Logan would have been proud of as he tried to take a quick penalty.

Another penalty was given, again advanced by 10 metres for back chat, and Beasley clipped over the penalty to make it 29-13.

Long term absentee Tynedale skipper Jamie Murray limped off with a worrying knee injury, and it was the visitors who ended the game the stronger, camping on the Tynedale line for long minutes.

In injury time, scrum half Rhys Powell wriggled over for a consolation try, converted by Frost.

First published at 13:10, Thursday, 23 October 2008
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk