TYNEDALE Centurions lifted the gloom on a frustrating weekend for the Corbridge-based club.

All games scheduled to take place at Tynedale Park, including the first team game against Huddersfield, were postponed due to Storm Dennis.

Tynedale’s third string XV, the Centurions, headed to Mitford Road in search of their third successive league victory in the County River Aln League.

But having lost at home to Morpeth earlier in the season, the Centurions were taking nothing for granted.

Morpeth dominated the early part of the game, and took the lead on six minutes when their speedy winger took advantage of some good possession to race through the Tynedale defence to score an unconverted try, despite the last ditch efforts of Dan Heppell to prevent the score.

The Tynedale front five of Ollie Morrell, Jonny Pape, Ed Weir, Ian Charlton and Rory Craney were being tested to the full by the large Morpeth pack and began to move the ball around the field, tiring the bulky opponents who were chasing the play in a bid to gain possession.

The Tynedale side drew level when a break from scrum half Andy Harvey, carried on by Seth Kippax-Jones and Mark Smales, allowed Rory Dixon to join the line from full back at pace to outpace the home defence and score a well worked try.

With a large bench available Tynedale brought George Hendry and Martyn Hutton off the sideline to good effect and only solid defence from Rob Earnshaw and Josh Turnbull prevented the Morpeth side from going back into the lead as the game remained tightly contested in the midfield.

On 22 minutes, Turnbull broke through the Morpeth forwards and burst away from the covering defenders to give Tynedale the lead, Dixon converted.

The game continued to ebb and flow until the break, when Tynedale made further changes with Phil Scandle, Jeff Wheelans and James Grant coming off the bench to add some fresh legs to the side, after a hard fought first period with Tynedale leading 12-5.

The second period began with both sides battling hard to gain the upper hand and only a great defensive tackle by Ryan Laverty prevented a Morpeth comeback.

Tynedale introduced Simon Patterson,Charlie Dancer and Ethan McCloud to the game from the replacement bench and the renewed energy gave them a period of dominance, but the Morpeth side held them out until the 70th minute when the impressive number eight Oliver Hillary broke away from a ruck to score his trademark try and extend the Tynedale lead. The extras were added by Dixon.

With the home side tiring as the hard fought contest began to take its toll, it was the Centurions’ captain, the inspirational Jake Sloan, who broke away from the Morpeth defence to cap another impressive performance to score with five minutes left on the clock. Replacement full back Rich Moreland sealed the victory in the final moments with a great finish to score a try to complete the victory.

The referee blew the whistle just as Andy Purves was taking to the field, and the evergreen utility man was denied the chance to add his influence to the side. The man of the match was awarded to scrum half Harvey who had controlled the game with great distribution of scrappy ball at times and some timely breaks to keep the Tynedale side on the front foot.