ON another weekend of weather-related postponements, Tynedale Centurions were in triumphant mood after booking their place in the final of the Northumberland Number Three Cup.

Tynedale’s third string side got off to a good start in their semi-final against Ashington II on Saturday, and never looked back, running out convincing winners.

The visiting Centurions took the lead after five minutes, when Dicky Hall finished off a move involving Jake Sloan and Andy Harvey to burst away to score near the posts.

He added the conversion after removing his protective headgear to great effect.

The lead was extended on 12 minutes through wing Dan Hepple, a player with only a handful of games behind him.

The promising youngster mesmerised the Ashington defence to jink his way over the line to complete the move started by Ollie Hillary and Rory Dixon.

On 20 minutes, Hall added his second try after Ian Charlton and Jason Armstrong combined well to produce a quality ball, and Dixon added the conversion.

Full back Dixon continued his good vein of form to score an impressive try five minutes later, which he converted himself.

Home side Ashington refused to lie down and reduced the arrears when a forward power was rewarded with a try on 30 minutes.

Before the break, Tynedale went further ahead after good work by Rory Craney and Ed Weir allowed Rob Earnshaw to score.

It was a fitting reward for the impressive performance he had produced on a heavy field, his numerous line breaking carries had kept Tynedale on the front foot. Hall converted, taking over the kicking duties from the injured Dixon.

With another strong bench available, Martyn Hutton had replaced Dixon to add his powerful presence to the Tynedale attack and, at the break, the Centurions held a 33-5 lead.

Three changes were made at the break with Phil Scandle, Callum Foxcroft and the inspirational George Hendry all taking the field with the heavy conditions taking its toll on the hard working Tynedale pack.

It took a short period of time for the side to get going again with the changes, but seven minutes after the turnaround, the versatile Josh Turnbull broke from a set piece to score the first try of the half after great work by the prop Johnny Pape. Hall converted.

The next try saw Hall complete his hat-trick, and he went on to convert his own effort.

With the heavy conditions taking their toll on both sets of players, Tynedale brought on Joe Mathews, Simon Patterson, Jon Gormley and Josh Hodgson from the strong and talented replacement line-up.

The final Tynedale try came from replacement full back Rich Moreland who used his pace to great effect to outstrip the tiring home defence to score. Much to their credit Ashington produced the final score of the contest with a converted try which their never say die attitude deserved, having contributed so much to a well contested cup tie, decided by some superb individual performances on the day.

Every player on the field contributed to an entertaining fixture in testing underfoot conditions.

The man of the match honour was shared between Johnny Pape and Dan Hepple. The final will take place against Novos on Saturday, April 4.