PRESTON MATCH
Tynedale’s final match of the season at Preston Grasshoppers turned out to be a really exciting ding-dong encounter with both sides scoring five tries and the lead changing hands nine times with Tynedale finally edging it 36-35.

Despite the ten tries the result of the match was decided in the final few minutes by penalty kicks! First Josh Leslie successfully converted a penalty in the 77th minute and then the home side failed from similar range with the clock almost done.

TYNEDALE PENALTY KICKS THIS SEASON
With penalty kicks being so vital in deciding the final outcome of the Preston match it is perhaps surprising that Josh’s 77th minute kick was only Tynedale’s 7th successful penalty kick of the season!

This low number is not down to the poor kicking success rate of our kickers but down to the trend in the game to go for other options when being awarded a penalty in a kickable position.

The majority of teams, Tynedale included, now opt for a kick into the corner, rather than a kick at goal, which is subsequently followed by what has become a reasonably fruitful lineout catch-and-drive ending with hopefully 5 or 7 points rather than 3 from a penalty kick. (Teams also sometimes opt for a scrum, a quick tap penalty, or even a slow tap penalty, rather than a kick at goal).
The attraction of securing a 4-try bonus point also encourages sides to decide against kicking for goal.

STATISTICS
The demise of the penalty kick at goal over the seasons is illustrated in the following table:-

A few “interesting” facts behind the above stats:-

• This season Josh Leslie has converted 4 penalties, Jake Rodgers has converted 3 penalties.
• This season 5 of our 7 successful penalty kicks have been in the last 10 minutes of a match.
• In our 1999-2000 promotion season Alan (Remi) Moses scored 68 of our successful penalty kicks.
• Tynedale’s last successful drop-goal was kicked by Matty Outson in the 2015-2016 season.
• In 1999-2000 Richard Cramb slotted 6 drop-goals despite having a personal preference for the running/handling/Barbarian game.

ROTHERHAM TITANS
League Champions Rotherham Titans do, however, seem to “buck the trend” and appear to have successfully utilised penalty kicks at goal when building scores (and winning margins in their case).
For example, in Rotherham’s 33-19 victory at Tynedale Park this season both sides scored 3 tries but Rotherham built a comfortable winning margin by successfully converting 4 penalties.

SUMMARY
So what is right and what is wrong – to go for goal or not!!
One thing for certain is it certainly stimulates opinions in the Grandstand where aged rugby intellects regularly exchange intelligent views whenever a kickable penalty is awarded.