Wilkinson’s undaunted after agony of late try

Sedgley Park .... 23pts Tynedale .............. 22pts

A late Jamie Harrison try snatched victory for Park after three secondhalf tries looked to be enough for Tynedale.

Poor kicking throughout the game cost Tynedale, but Sedgley Park’s attacking prowess proved too much for the vistors in the end.

Bebbington said: “We’re happy to get the win but not necessarily with the performance.

“We started really well in both halves and we scored with the first play of the game.

“I think we lost a bit of concentration and let them back into the game.”

The opening try of the game came after a sustained period of pressure from Sedgley.

Stephen Collins eventually crossed the line before adding the conversion himself.

Two more penalties from Collins stretched the home side’s lead, but just before half-time Ben Bell scored to get Tynedale back into the game.

Sedgley started the second half with the same intent as the first.

A sharp break from Andrew Riley put them within five metres of the line, eventually allowing Hallam Chapman to dot down.

Guy Pike scored his side’s second try of the game to put Park eight points ahead, but crucially Smith failed to add the conversion.

Jonathan Cousin then charged down an attempted box kick and then earned his side an important penalty, which allowed the forwards to charge over the line with a powerful driving maul from the resulting line-out.

A third successive kick to the corner set up a great platform for the forwards to pick and drive once more.

And Tynedale took the lead as Grant went over with just six minutes remaining.

But just when it looked as if Tynedale would be travelling home celebrating victory, quick hands from the backs allowed Jamie Harrison to slide over in the corner to win the game for his delighted team-mates.

Despite the narrow defeat though, Tynedale coach Matt Wilkinson was happy with his side’s performance claiming there was a number of positives for the losing side after such a spirited performance.

Wilkinson said: “We’re actually quite pleased with our performance, in terms of how we played.

“Our general game play, our defence and willingness to get off the line to make tackles was good.

“I’d say nine out of ten times if you play like that you’d win the game.

“When you consider we missed five kicks at goal and three penalty kicks at touch, it was our kicking that let us down.

“We play against teams who are physically bigger than us most weeks and the graft and heart we show is never in question.”