Seaham draw blank in opening match

Seaham opened their league campaign with a disappointing 33-0 loss at Blyth.

They held their hosts out for the opening quarter, but tries in the 24th and 27th minute - one converted - saw them trail 12-0.

They had a chance to narrow the lead on 32 minutes after pressure from Glen Hardie forced a penalty.

Unfortunately, the wind steered James Bromley’s kick just right of the posts.

Their woes were compounded in the 39th minute when they fumbled a John Dixon tapdown from a five-metre lineout and the Blyth’s No8 pounced on it for a converted try.

Blyth were temporarily reduced to 14 men within a minute of the restart when their left winger was adjudged to have raised his elbow going into contact.

Seaham had a few chances to battle their way back into the game, but were hampered by poor handling and a strong Blyth defence.

The hosts regrouped and finally managed to score a further brace of converted tries to extend their lead to 33-0.

Ian Chapman saw yellow in the 77th minute for leading with his elbow, but Seaham defended bravely until the end and kept Blyth out.

l Sale’s director of rugby Steve Diamond believes the current Gallagher Premiership season is one of the most competitive yet.

The Sharks defeated Worcester 21-15 on Sunday but had to withstand an onslaught from the visitors in the second period.

Worcester are favourites for the drop this season but have shown that they can mix it with the other teams in England’s toptier following two narrow losses.

“At half-time we weren’t swinging from the chandelier in the changing room,” said Diamond.

“We just said ‘we’ve started well, let’s make sure we put this game to bed but, if we play like we played, we’ll convert’. What Worcester did at half-time was get themselves into gear. That’s how competitive it is.”