Tynedale and Blaydon ready to let battle commence

Dec 14 2010 by Mark Smith, The Journal

TYNEDALE play host to Blaydon in Saturday’s National One derby, but is it the biggest game in North East rugby?

The Corbridge meeting between the two local clubs has firmly inked itself on to the region’s sporting calendar, and few matches can equal it.

In the dizzy heights of the Aviva Premiership, Newcastle Falcons’ nearest opposition is more than 100 miles away in the form of Leeds Carnegie.

And while the Boxing Day skirmish between the two sides at Kingston Park carries major significance in the battle to avoid the drop, it could never lay claim to the derby-day status of Blaydon and Tynedale due to the sheer distance between the two sides.

University tussles between Newcastle and Northumbria certainly deliver in terms of off-field bragging rights, with crowds of 2,000 and above attending the annual Stan Calvert Cup match between the two.

But with players and fans of the varsity clash leaving the respective institutions after their studies, it is hard to match the continuity of a traditional local club clash.

Historically, Blaydon’s principle rivals have always been four miles down the road at Ryton, with the annual Boxing Day dust-ups seeing plenty of blood spilt down the years as both sets of players took the edge off their Christmas hangovers.

But with Ryton now four leagues below their traditional foes, the significance of first-team meetings between the Gateshead bedfellows has been significantly diminished.

Nowhere in the North East can rugby claim to be more tribal than Hartlepool, and there is certainly spice guaranteed whenever Rovers meet West.

But the days of the two being powerhouses on the region’s sporting scene are well and truly over, as they battle it out in the lower reaches of the league pyramid.

Many more clubs could throw their hat in the ring for derby-day drama, with Gosforth, Novos and Northern all having their tussles down the years, to name just three.

Middlesbrough, Acklam, Stockton, Guisborough and Billingham keep the Teesside end of the bargain up with fiercely-contested Cleveland clashes, but it will be all eyes on Corbridge for Saturday’s visit of Blaydon.

Opponent No 1, however, remains the weather – with this week’s thaw set to give way to snow and freezing temperatures as kick-off draws near.

Blaydon have not kicked a ball in anger for nigh-on a month after the postponement of their last three league games, while Tynedale had to travel to the relative warmth of the North West last Saturday to meet Macclesfield for their first action in a fortnight.

“The pitch seems OK at the moment after the thaw over the weekend, but the forecast for the back end of this week doesn’t look like good news,” said Tynedale’s rugby chairman, John Shotton (pictured below).

“There are temperatures of minus five on the way, but with it being a local derby we can hopefully leave any decision about the game until much nearer the kick-off.

“Both sides definitely want to get the match on, and from a club point of view it’s obviously quite a lucrative day with a big crowd in attendance and plenty in the bars.”

Blaydon sit seventh in the table – two points and two places ahead of Tynedale, and having played a game less. But the last meeting saw the Northumbrians on top, Tynedale holding out for a 20-19 Crow Trees triumph in September.

“We went 17-3 up at half-time, and it should have been more,” said Shotton. “Blaydon are a good side though, and they came back into it.”