TYNEDALE Centurions returned to action after the festive break and travelled to Winlaton Saxons with a strong side.

And they got the new year off to a superb start, returning with a 37-19 victory.

Tynedale were facing the elements and the upward slope in the first half, and Winlaton opened the scoring after taking advantage of poor defending from the back of a scrum. The try was converted.

The visitors came to life and on 17 minutes Brogan Miller powered his way over to open Tynedale’s account, Adam Todhunter added the conversion to level the scores.

On 25 minutes, Winlaton regained the lead after taking a quick penalty which caught out the Tynedale defence, resulting in an opportunist try.

The Centurions drew level when the impressive Todhunter glided through the Winlaton defence and fed Shaun Abrahams, who scored a try out to the left of the posts.

Tynedale then produced their best period of play before the break. Phil Scandle and Ed Weir gained an upper hand in the scrums to earn Tynedale some good possession.

With support from James Sample, Callum Foxcroft, the ageless Ian Charlton and Jason Armstrong they began to dominate.

This gave scrum half Josh Turnbull some quick clean ball which he was using to devastating effect and the best move of the game, with Todhunter and Martyn Hutton linking in midfield, allowed Ben Common to cross the line out wide on the left to score a superb try.

Then, following a break by Olly Hillary from a set piece, the ball was carried on by Todhunter to allow Common to score in the left corner, to give Tynedale a 22-12 lead at half time.

After the restart Tynedale scored when Hillary produced one of his trademark breaks to break through the home defence. On 68 minutes, Miller was driven over the line with support from Rory Craney to score his second try.

Ten minutes later Hillary scored his second try, but Winlaton weren’t finished. The hosts responded with a converted try to keep the game alive and pressed the Tynedale line during the closing minutes.

Great defensive work from Ryan Laverty and captain Jake Sloan, aided by Andy Purves, prevented them from reducing the arrears. Ed Weir and Phil Scandle were joint men of the match.