The long trek to the banks of the Tyne in Corbridge necessitated a 6.45am start, the travelling squad featuring a mostly tried & tested pack of forwards but a backline with two debutant starters (Will Hollis at outside centre and Tynedale old boy Dan Rundle on the left wing) plus another in Jacob Ham on the bench. Up front Billy Harding took the openside flank with Liam Munro gamely filling in at 2nd row.

A slow start by Stour saw an offside offence that allowed Tynedale to kick to the corner and execute a catch & drive for scrum half Matt Outson to dummy his way through the fringe defences. 4min 5-0.

Playing into the breeze Stour were looking to attack with ball in hand while Tynedale’s probing runs were frequently followed by kicks to touch in the Stour 22. Both sides persisted with throwing the ball around but to little effect, the hosts conceding penalties for holding on in the tackle while Stour’s handling errors halted progress the other way. A patient build-up produced a rare foray into Tynedale’s 22 where scrum half Joe Heatley aimed an innocuous-looking chip into the corner. Fullback Ash Smith looked to have it covered but was deceived by a cruel bounce and chasing winger Josh Trinham pounced on the loose ball to score. 23min 5-5.

A drive by skipper Ciaran Moore set up a break for Harding whose offload put Rundle clear. He was pulled down in the hosts’ 22 and the chance was burnt when the arriving Stour support went off their feet. Tynedale persisted with their deep kicking game, Heatley wound up a clearance from a resulting maul but was charged down by tighthead Rich Elliott who gathered to score. Smith again missed with the conversion but landed a penalty shortly after when Munro – unused to the referee calling ‘5’ - was penalised for failing to release in the tackle. 35min 13-5.

A break from deep by winger Oli Walker saw Rundle concede a 5m scrum but the Stour pack dug deep and shunted their opponents off their scrum feed. Heatley’s attempted clearance was again blocked but the bounce was more fortuitous, the ball sliding into touch and halftime blown.

The 2nd half started with Tynedale running everything at Stour who found themselves conceding penalties but held firm, Walker finally turned over in the tackle for Heatley to clear. Play ebbed & flowed at high-tempo until a loose clearance kick was gathered by fullback Luke White near the Stour 10m line. He regathered his perfectly-weighted chip over the onrushing defenders to put Trinham into space wide out. The cover scrambled across but his floated inside pass found Heatley who scored near the posts. 58min 13-12.

Trinham’s next touch was at the opposite end of the scale when he was tackled trying to chip ahead near the Tynedale 22. The hosts gathered and patiently built up an attack from deep, outside half Dan Taylor eventually worked clean through the Stour defences. The cover got to him but the hosts recycled possession and Walker crossed wide out with the nearby officials rejecting Stour protestations of a knock-on in the build-up. 61min 18-12.

The hosts again tried to build from deep but disaster struck when winger Henry Hadfield was caught in possession by Moore at the back of a ruck, he ripped the ball from his grasp and raced clear to score in the corner. White landed the difficult conversion to nudge Stour ahead for the first time in the game. 65min 18-19. Hadfield redeemed himself by running replacement Rod Petty’s clearance kick back up the middle, Outson slipped through a half-gap and offloaded to centre Jack Harrison who crossed to score the hosts’ bonus-point try under the posts. 69min 25-19.

Hadfield fluffed the restart kick though and Stour launched an attack, replacement Jack Lea taking short ball at pace to barge over for Stour’s bonus-point try. White’s conversion saw the lead change hands again. 73min 25-26, frantic stuff. Stour gathered the restart and looked to keep the tempo up, Trinham working Heatley clear down the wing but his attempted offload to Petty was intercepted. Tynedale tried desperately to run from deep but Lea pounced to strip possession, the ball was worked left through several hands for Rundle to cross in the corner. 75min 25-33.

White’s long range shot at goal flew wide but Stour gathered the drop out and managed to work precious seconds off the clock. Their defences held firm against a last-gasp wave of Tynedale attacks and the final whistle went on a memorable victory.

This Saturday Stour will be looking to do the double over Herefordshire rivals Luctonians as they start the return leg of league fixtures, ko 3pm. Stourton Park will also host the traditional Boxing Day derby fixtures with Dudley Kingswinford on Dec 26th, ko 11am.