DESPITE another exhibition of champagne rugby, Tynedale were not quite able to round off club president Mike Fieldhouse’s tumultuous four year reign with a victory over Leicester Lions.

A bumper crowd saw the lead change hands several times before the Midlanders edged it with a late try, but a sixth place finish was much better than many dared hope for after the relegation fears of the previous two seasons.

Fieldhouse’s presidency has seen not only Tynedale’s first ever relegation, but also the dramatic floods of 2015, which not only wrecked the clubhouse but also his own house just a short distance from the ground. But he came through it all with a wry smile, and it was a pity that the Lions were just a little too strong to allow this great club man to end his term of office with a victory.

It was a close-run thing, though, and the large bank holiday crowd saw some great tries, and were able to exercise their lungs with some inventive and heartfelt abuse of the referee and touch judges, not for the first time this season.

The Lions, lying third in the table, were seriously under-strength with several men playing out of position, and were only able to name three replacements - one of whom arrived just minutes before the kick off - but they were still able to outscore Tynedale by six tries to three.

They had a powerful and well drilled pack, who turned the rolling maul into an art form, while Tynedale had the exciting running of Oli Walker and Rob Parker and the rest to set the pulse pounding.

Scott Powell at number eight was again outstanding, as was the excellent Jack Harrison, who was unable to follow his hat-trick of the previous week with a try, but put in the tackle of the season to deny the Lions what looked a certain try. There were also impressive displays from skipper Matty Outson, Dan Taylor, Louis Frankland and Matty Charters, but it was the Lions who emerged victorious.

The Midlanders started strongly, a line-out catch and drive earning the first try through Drew Rudkin, usually a flanker but playing in the centre on this occasion. He was on the spot to touch down on four minutes, after an irresistible drive from a close range line-out.

The kick failed, but Tynedale were soon lining up under their own crossbar again, when a careless kick was charged down and impressive full back Benjamin Marfo doubled the advantage on 12 minutes.

Tynedale seemed a little shellshocked, but shook themselves to life with some slick handling which ended with leading try scorer Oli Walker blasting down the left wing for a fine try on 18 minutes, which for once Ash Smith was unable to improve.

Lions pulled down a scrum to give Smith a straightforward penalty on 25 minutes to make it 10-8, and five minutes later, Tynedale went ahead for the first time when Smith landed another kick from the tee.

On 33 minutes, a lovely break by full back Jame Spencer created the opportunity for Walker to blast in for his second try, Smith’s conversion putting Tynedale 18-10 to the good.

On the stroke of half time, though, the Lions forwards roared again, another line-out drive allowing scrum half Kris McFedries to touch down unchallenged to make it 18-15 at the break.

The second half started badly for Tynedale with the referee waving play on after Spencer appeared to have been taken out in the air, and moments later, classy winger Devon Constant was touching down the Lions’ bonus point try.

Things got worse for Tynedale when Smith was yellow carded for what was deemed a deliberate knock on, but the 14 men responded well to the challenge with Parker blazing through the Lions defence like a Bubbles-haired comet to touch down for a try he converted himself quite magnificently from the touchline to put Tynedale back in front at 25-20 with 20 minutes left.

Back came the Lions with a try by fly half Sam Benjamin, converted by McFedries, to edge back into the lead, but with four minutes left, Tynedale appeared to have stolen the points with a great penalty by the restored Smith to lead 28-27.

It was not to be though, for right at the end of normal time, the Lions drilled another penalty to touch, and there was a certain inevitability about the winning score by replacement Marco Dallavalle from another text book line-out drive.