TYNEDALE brought a little sunshine to a wet, grey and horrible day in Yorkshire by racking up their third victory on the trot.

The win over in-form Sheffield Tigers sent them racing up the North Division Two table to eighth place on a healthy 36 points.

Tynedale were without their free-scoring Newcastle Falcons teenage wingers Morgan Passman and Liam Checksfield, but the ever-reliable Jonny Mock and Rory Dixon stepped up to the plate and performed impressively.

The visitors also welcomed back powerful centre Will Miller, with Jake Rodgers moving to full back.
However, the weather and the wet pitch dictated that this was a day for the forwards, and the Tynedale pack excelled both in attack and defence.

They revelled in the filthy conditions, with number eight Joe Mills putting in another fine display. 
The game started badly for Tynedale, when they lost impressive flanker Rob Farrar to injury after just four minutes, but the versatile Jonny Cousin proved an admirable replacement.

Tynedale took the lead in the eighth minute, when prop Ben Haigh produced one of his typical bullocking runs to charge over for a try, which was converted by fly half Rob Parker. 

The sides slugged it out until the 31st minute, when Tynedale gave away a penalty which was slotted home by the Tigers’ right wing Robert Davidson.

And Davidson was on target again just before the break, with his successful penalty making it 7-6 at half time.

Six minutes into the second half, Tynedale extended their lead when ever alert skipper Matty Outson picked up from a ruck and dived in under the posts to give Parker the easy conversion for 14-6.

The game then became bogged down in the mud again, with Tigers launching a series of up and unders which Tynedale generally coped with well, despite the wet ball and slippery conditions.

With seven minutes left, Tigers winger Henri Packard took advantage of an overthrow from a Tynedale line-out to slither in at the corner for an unconverted try to set up a grandstand finish at 14-11.

Despite the Tigers pressure, Tynedale held their nerve, and with two minutes left, Parker made a mockery of the conditions by sending over a superb penalty from wide out to seal the victory. 

Tynedale will return to Yorkshire again on Saturday when they visit old rivals Wharfedale.

The clubs have near identical records this season, each having played 13 and won six, with 10 bonus points and similar points difference. 

However, Tynedale are two points and two places better off because of their drawn game against South Leicester back in September.

Tynedale will be aiming to make amends for last April’s fixture against Wharfedale, when the Yorkshire side beat them 24-22 at Corbridge. 

The narrow defeat meant Tynedale missed out on a promotion play-off place. 

More than eight minutes of added in time had elapsed, with Tynedale hanging on grimly to a 22-19 lead, before Phil Woodhead squeezed his way over to snatch a late victory.

However, in last season’s corresponding fixture at Wharfedale, Tynedale ran out 33-14 winners.