Last updated 13:13, Thursday, 27 November 2008

Gateshead 3rd XV 5,THE first league game of the season saw Prudhoe and Stocksfield beat Gateshead comprehensively.

Prudhoe and Stocksfield 26.

When the fixture was reversed there were significant differences and a number of similarities.

To begin with, the personnel for both sides had changed.

Not available on Saturday were six players who scored or assisted in seven of the 11 tries scored by P&S during the last game.

That was not to say it was a weak or weakened Prudhoe and Stocksfield side, but in the nature of a small single team club there are always some players who are not available week in and week out.

One of the similarities on show in both games was the game plan followed by Prudhoe and Stocksfield, who set out to get the basics right in the forwards and so release the backs to attack.

So it was from the kick-off on Saturday.

The game began well for the visitors, as they won the first scrum and were also awarded the first penalty.

As the clock moved into the second minute, from the second scrum, the ball moved across the field and when it was held up, John Patmore was there to make ground.

He found John Whitfield who made more ground, before popping the ball up for a speeding Steve Rogers to hit the defence line as they were flat-footed, and score a try under the posts.

Gateshead were stunned. They had been smarting since the last time the two sides met and had been determined to hold their defence on their home pitch.

The early score was not what they wanted.

The whistle featured quite a lot during the early exchanges as the referee, quite legitimately, sought to ensure that both sides played within the rules of the game, even if that meant that the game stuttered and failed to fall into any sort of pattern.

It was a scrappy affair with a few high spots, although very draining for those involved.

The second high spot for the visitors came when, as the ball was passed out, John Patmore looked poised to make another run.

The Gateshead defenders focused on him and braced themselves for the impact.

They completely missed another burst from Steve Rogers for his second try.

When the score was only 14-0 it looked as if the game was over.

It became almost a game of cat and mouse with P&S allowing the Gateshead team to run and make progress before they were brought firmly to a halt and put back into their own half.

Just to make sure the mouse was properly set back, Chris Russell made a superb break and fed the supporting Matthew Jefferson, who extended the P&S lead.

Probably the busiest person during the second quarter was the Prudhoe and Stocksfield physio, with John Whitfield, Chris Russell, Steve Rogers, John Patmore and Paul Griffin all needing attention.

The latter mentioned was on the receiving end of an illegal hit in a maul that saw a young inexperienced Gateshead player properly sin-binned for what was clumsy and dangerous, rather than malicious.

The second half was largely forgettable with the referee continuing to dominate in what was a game without any skulduggery.

The P&S forwards worked hard, with Matthew Jefferson again tireless in his efforts, winning the race to the breakdown point time and time again.

The highlight of the half and the killing of the mouse, was a third try from Steve Rogers.

The centre collected the ball within his own 22-metre area and ran at pace and at an angle that saw him outstrip the defenders, and take him in a wide arc to the try line.

It was probably the best individual try he has scored in a P&S shirt, and it was also the second time this season he has scored three tries against Gateshead.

The game was well won when Gateshead gained a compensatory try to conclude a generally forgettable match.

Prudhoe and Stocksfield will need to be a step up in terms of aggression and attention to detail especially around the fringes of both set scrums and rucks and mauls tomorrow, when table-topping Percy Park Pumas are the visitors.