PRUDHOE and Stocksfield heaped more pressure on fellow strugglers Hartlepool Boys Brigade Old Boys by running in eight tries.

Both teams have struggled for players this term and have had to cancel or postpone games in Durham and Northumberland League III, with visitors Hartlepool suffering more than any team in the division.

And they were up against a rejuvenated Prudhoe side who had a full squad to choose from, getting off to a great start as they attacked up the hill.

Ryan Chamberlain and Dan Whiley were prominent for the hosts but skipper Dave Henry led from the front and went over from two metres out to draw first blood early in the game.

Chris Patterson at scrum half drove the team forward and fly half Steven Henderson had willing runners in Raj Kingman and Luke Masters, and it was the latter who scored the second try to put Prudhoe in a commanding lead at 12-0.

Hartlepool weren’t allowing Prudhoe to have all the play but a 20-metre charge from Adam Murphy had the hosts banging on the door again, and a switch across field and some inter change of passes allowed Jonathan Dodds to score his first try of the season. It was a popular score as Dodds always gives his best, but perhaps the celebrations disrupted Prudhoe’s momentum a lapse saw Hartlepool respond with a try of their own to conclude the first half.

But the game was all but over two minutes into the second half as P&S stretched their lead to 19-7, Masters touching down again after some strong running to earn his side a bonus point. The hosts were in full control although a number of unforced errors and a couple of forward passes saw 15 minutes elapse before they crossed the line again, Michael Henderson rumbling over with the support of the rest of the pack.

Prudhoe were afforded the rare luxury of turning to the bench and introduced Ed Halford to the game, and he made a typical 12-metre charge before releasing the ball into the hands of Whiley who crossed for try number seven.

The home side weren’t finished there though and they rounded off the scoring when Steven Henderson managed to release the ball despite being flattened by a late tackle, the ball taken on by the energetic Masters who completed a fantastic hat-trick to take the final score to 52-7.