DESPITE witnessing another home defeat, the Tynedale faithful were not totally despondent after the visit of Chester on Saturday.

Yes, Tynedale had the lethargic look of a gaggle of Galapagos tortoises for much of the first half, along with a reluctance to take the ball at anything more then walking pace, and too much energy was expended running sideways rather than forwards, but it wasn‘t all bad news!

They scored four tries for the first time this season, collecting a welcome bonus point on top of a losing bonus point to take their tally for the season to five - more than any other team in the division.

The result still saw them drop a couple of places down the National League Division Two North table, but there were still signs of better things to come.

The flaring pace of winger Rory Dixon caught the eye, promising much for the future, and the link between experienced half back pairing Matty Outson and Dan Taylor is maturing nicely.

The quality of number eight Scott Powell again stood out like St Mary’s lighthouse, and while the front row endured another torrid afternoon, the line out throwing of hookers Matt Proctor and David Batey was exemplary.

Line out jumpers Graeme Dunn, Jonny Cousin and Nick Cairns missed very little, and all were busy about the field.

Ash Smith impressed with his kicking from hand and tee, and replacements Dom Connolly in the front row, and Joe McKenzie in the back row, both injected much needed power and purpose into the proceedings.

The ingredients were all there, and the mix should produce a final product even Paul Hollywood cannot sneer at once coach Andy Buist‘s World Cup liaison duties are over, and he can get his boots on again.

His presence was sorely needed in the pack, where Tynedale were almost contemptuously shoved off their own ball more than once.

Tynedale also caused themselves problems by twice not catching the ball from restarts, inviting trouble from erratic bounces which Chester were always glad to exploit.

With one or two notable exceptions, the Tynedale tackling occasionally left much to be desired, and it was only some slack passing and handling by the visitors that kept Tynedale in the game in a lacklustre first half performance, where they seemed flat and jaded in the autumn sun.

Chester always had the edge in the first 40 minutes, with fly half Rhys Hayes pulling the strings like a master puppeteer.

However, it was Tynedale who took a third minute lead with an Ash Smith penalty, when a thumping tackle by Will Miller induced a knock-on which ultimately led to a 35 metre penalty, confidently stroked home by centre Smith with just seven minutes gone.

The lead lasted just two minutes, with Chester powering forward to win a penalty which was kicked to the corner.

The catch and drive was nobly resisted for a while, but eventually skipper and number eight David Ford blasted over in the right corner, Hayes converting to make it 7-3.

Chester turned the screw ruthlessly, pulling the Tynedale defence right and left, but the line held, and finally Chester opted for a simple penalty, chipped over by Hayes for 10-3.

Tynedale refused to lie down though, and three penalties in quick succession took them into the Chester half.

Good work by winger Henry Hadfield, skipper Outson and number eight Powell opened up the Chester defeat for flanker Cairns to produce an arcing run which took him over the line for a fine try on 20 minutes.

Cairns almost had a second when he was a whisker away from pulling off an interception on half way, but at the other end, a Hayes penalty was screwed wide.

Tynedale could have got their noses in front on 33 minutes, when they turned down an easy three points to go for the corner, but the line out came to nothing.

A powerful scrum right on half time had Tynedale going backwards and Chester carved out a vast overlap for centre Ben Stelmaszek to stroll over unchallenged, Hayes adding the extras to make it 17-8 at the break.

Tynedale began the second half poorly, trapped on their own line by a series of penalty scrums, which ended with referee Peter Stentiford losing patience and awarding a penalty try, which Hayes converted to give Chester a commanding 24-8 lead.

But a break by Outson put Chester under pressure, which resulted in a yellow card for visiting winger John Ketland.

Tynedale used their extra man to devastating effect, with a burst of two tries in as many minutes.

A line-out catch and drive had the Chester defence creaking, and they were unable to stop Powell forcing his way over, with Smith’s conversion attempt drifting just wide.

From the restart, Chester were in full retreat again, when a tap penalty by Outson was worked out to the wing, where Dixon streaked over wide out.

This time, the kick went over and Tynedale were in touching distance at 24-20.

It could have been better, with Dixon hurtling for the line again moments later, but this time, he was bundled into touch just short.

Dreams of a great comeback were killed off when Chester, back to full strength, attacked in numbers, and a switch of the ball from right to left saw lock Kyle Joseph pop up on the wing for a morale sapping try to take the score to 29-20 with five minutes left.

Tynedale refused to give up, and in the dying seconds they were rewarded as Smith slid in at the corner to secure Tynedale’s two points.