Stourbridge 30, Tynedale 5

Tynedale endured another dark day in the Black Country on Saturday when they were well beaten by a Stourbridge side fancied to be well in the hunt for promotion come the spring.

A seven hour coach journey was not the ideal preparation for the game, and after making an impressive start, Tynedale faded against a well drilled Stourbridge side with a strong pack and plenty of pace in the back division.

Tynedale welcomed back the free scoring Tom Bramwell for his first game of the season, and he did not disappoint, scoring Tynedale’s only try.

Liam Carmichael started in the front row, in the absence of David Batey, and also missing from the pack was old warhorse Chris Wearmouth, his place in the second row going to Jonny Cousin, with Ben Blackburn starting in the back row.

Tynedale began well, putting together some useful moves, and their cause was helped further when Stourbridge were reduced to 14 men after just 10 minutes when fly half Fred Morgan was sin binned for a high tackle.

Tynedale used their extra man to good effect, with Bramwell breaking off from a driving maul to score the opening try.

Full back Ross Cooke was unable to convert and that was as good as it got for the visitors.

On 22 minutes, it was Tynedale’s turn to go down to 14 men, centre James Clark yellow carded for another high tackle and within five minutes, the scores were level, as winger Afeafe Haisila powered over in the corner.

Stourbridge still had numerical advantage when they took the lead they were never going to relinquish.

Flanker Archie Tarbuck was the scorer, going over from a driving maul. Scrum half Michael Heaney missed the conversion but did add a penalty to take the score to 13-5 at half time.

The home side stretched away from the start of second half, and not for the first time, it was ex Tynedale man Dan Rundle who did the damage, rounding off a sweeping move down the left.

Five minutes later, centre Arthur Morgan went over, with scrum-half Heaney kicking the extras for a 25-5 lead.

Tynedale couldn’t get into the game even when Stourbridge collected their second yellow card, Heaney exiled to the sin bin.

This time, Tynedale could not take advantage, and it was Stour who finished the game on top, replacement lock Nick Murphy crashing over for the fifth try.

Tynedale remain 12th in National League Division Two North, but face another daunting prospect on Saturday, when Hull are the visitors to Tynedale Park.

The Humbersiders have won three of their four fixtures so far this season and Tynedale will have to be at their best to keep them at bay. The game kicks off at 3pm.