RAIDERS TO THE RESCUE!

Raiders braved the bog, to cross the whitewash ten times away to Harrogate Georgians on Saturday, with a hat-trick from the returning Calum Morrell being the cherry on the cake!

Squads were thin but Ed Craney and Jamie Hiles graciously donned Georgians colours from the outset to level the sides up and get the game on. Well done fellas! Both gave their all for Harrogate to make it a tough outing for their Raiders team-mates, with Craney commanding his new troops impressively and Hiles rising highest to win all of Georgians' lineouts!

Raiders got off to a devilishly good start with Jon Devereux delivering an early five points in the corner however Georgians struck back promptly to level things up. Raiders then got into a groove (albeit a very muddy one), with 'Captain Fantastic' Jacob Brown, fearless Ayden Fletcher, rampant Rory Craney and domineering Dicky Dunn controlling the collisions and creating opportunities for fleet-footed Euan Forlowe and majestic Morrell to exploit, claiming two first-half tries apiece. Scrum-half Jake Turnbull's twists and turns also proved too much for Georgians' defences as he expertly weaved his way through to dot down between the posts.

Georgians galvanised themselves to grind out three tries of their own either side of half-time in reply. Lots left in this game! The unstoppable Dunn powered over the line to restore breathing space, extended by some wizardly wing-play from Will Jonas, taking a wonderful catch out wide to fashion a further five points.

Georgians gave no ground and fought back valiantly to reduce the deficit to just five points, the scoreboard reading 37-42 with just ten minutes remaining, however Morrell's hat-trick try and a great, late finish from the assiduous Harry Askwith rounded off a terrific performance. Great credit to both teams for persevering on a muddy puddle of a pitch and putting on a great show!

After the match, Raiders showed their mettle once more with yet another powerful performance, this time in the car park! Hiles grandparents came out to support but a questionable decision to park on the grass didn't turn out too well. It's likely that Dunn could have saved the day on his own but he instead allowed several of his team mates to flex their muscles and haul the stranded car back to safe ground! Well done lads! Raiders to the Rescue!

FT:
Harrogate Georgians 37 - 52 Tynedale Raiders

Tries: Devereux, Forlowe (2), Morrell (3), Turnbull, Dunn, Jonas, Askwith

Con: Turnbull