OLD foes who share the River Tyne will again lock horns next season.

With the outcome of the rugby season decided on calculated scores following the early end to the campaign, it has been confirmed that Blaydon have been promoted to National League Two North – where they will once again meet the old enemy, Tynedale.

Blaydon were four points clear at the top of North Premier at the time of the abandonment of all fixtures due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and that translated into success as they were crowned champions of the division on projected results. Harrogate, who were second in the North Premier, have also been promoted.

They will also come up against Hull Ionians and Rotherham following their relegations from National League One, while Midlands Premier League champions Bournville will provide new opposition too.

Tynedale, based in Corbridge, had been looking over their shoulders for much of the season and had been placed around 11th position for most of the term.

And that is their final league positioning, as it was calculated they would accumulate 69.97 points for the remainder of the campaign.

That was enough to see them finish three places above the drop zone, ahead of 12th placed Huddersfield (68.17) and Luctonians (64.71).

The three relegated teams were Otley (62.79), Preston Grasshoppers (34.52) and the division’s whipping boys Scunthorpe (7.21).

Tynedale won’t have the trip to Caldy to face next season as they gained promotion as they picked up an estimated 142.79 points.

That saw them finish well ahead of their rivals, with Fylde (107.88) finishing as runners-up ahead of Hinckley (101.73) and Sedgley Park (100.38).

The rest of the National League Two North table, from fifth to 10th, was as follows: Lough borough Students (90.10), Chester (84.71), Stourbridge (76.25), Hull (76.25), Wharfedale (70.29), Sheffield Tigers (70).

Tynedale will be hoping for an improved season after a mixed bag during 2019-2020.

They started the season with two league defeats, going down 36-33 on the opening day to Luctonians and then 36-29 at Hull.

The scores were levelled when they welcomed Otley to Corbridge, before they picked up their first win of the season in a low scoring 12-7 victory away to Sedgley Park.

They beaten at home to Fylde in early October, but then followed a good run of results as victories over Scunthorpe, Preston, Huddersfield and Sheffield Tigers sandwiched a 27-27 draw at Wharfedale.

The unbeaten run came to an end when they lost by just three points at Stourbridge in mid-November.

They bounced back with a 20-15 victory at home to Hinckley, but a bad run of results was to take them up to Christmas.

They lost 36-17 on the road to Chester, were beaten 47-17 at home to Caldy, went down 46-14 at Loughborough and then lost 16-12 at home to Hinckley.

Their first game of 2020 ended in a 16-13 defeat away to Otley, with victories over Sedgley Park and Scunthorpe coming either side of a 50-10 drubbing at the hands of Fylde.

Then came a 29-14 victory away to Preston and a 34-26 home defeat against Wharfedale.

A frustrating three-week period of inactivity followed as two unsuccessful attempts to play away to Huddersfield came before a postponed trip to Sheffield Tigers as the country endured heavy rain from Storms Ciara and Dennis during February.

Play resumed in March but Tynedale went down narrowly 29-27 at home to Stourbridge, before their trip to Huddersfield finally beat the weather at the third time of asking – the game ending 31-15 in the Yorkshiremen’s favour before the season concluded.

Head coach Ben Woods will now turn his attention to next season.