TYNEDALE brought some welcome warmth to a bitterly cold afternoon with a maximum points victory over second bottom Macclesfield on Saturday.

Two more touchdowns from try machine Morgan Passman helped secure the 33-12 win, as Tynedale did much to iron out the errors which have marred their last two games.

The icy wind led to horizontal rain blowing spitefully down the length of the pitch, which meant there was not as much positional kicking as usual, and Tynedale's handling was generally secure.

Despite their lowly position in the league, Macclesfield gave a good account of themselves for much of the game but lacked a cutting edge against Tynedale’s impervious defence.

There were some notable performances all over the pitch, with the half-back pairing of Matty Outson and Rob Parker working well, and also catching the eye were locks Chris Wearmouth and Graeme Dunn, along with Jonny Cousin in the back row.

Strength in depth is among Tynedale’s biggest assets and there were fine performances from replacements Will Montgomery, Liam Checksfield and Michael Hughes.

Macclesfield kicked off with the wind at their backs, and pinned Tynedale in their own 22 for the opening few minutes.

However, Tynedale showed their power with a fine drive from a line-out, which almost brought a try for Wearmouth, and a good run by the exciting Guy Pike came to nothing thanks to a knock on.

Pike was not to be denied however, and on 19 minutes, after good work by Outson, he came through on the burst to score under the posts, with Parker converting.

Tynedale kept pressing, and forward pressure led to a Wearmouth try five minutes later just to the left of the post. The conversion seemed a formality but Parker screwed it wide for the score to remain 12-0.

Macclesfield showed their teeth on 28 minutes, when an electrifying burst of speed saw scrum half Sam Stelmaszek skip through the Tynedale defence from the edge of the 22 to score.

Tynedale came back on the half hour, when slick handling by the backs saw Parker pop up on the right wing to produce a dazzling burst of speed to run in under the posts from close to halfway, converting his own try for a 19-5 interval lead.

The second half began with Tynedale several times kicking away possession to the annoyance of the crowd, and it was Macclesfield who scored first, when centre James Hampson rounded off a good spell of pressure with a blindside dart for a well taken try, converted by fly half Tom Morton.

Tynedale responded well, with another Wearmouth charge creating the pressure which saw Passman gather the ball 30 metres out, and force his way over for a try with 56 minutes gone. Parker’s conversion took the score to 26-12.

With eight minutes left, a good handling move ended with Passman taking his tally of Tynedale tries for the season to 26, with Parker converting.

Tynedale' s excellent home record - eight straight wins - will be put to the stiffest of tests on Saturday, when a re-arranged home fixture against Huddersfield will kick off at 2pm.

The Yorkshiremen have been among the pacesetters in the league all season, but suffered a 58-22 defeate against Stourbridge last weekend.