(Thanks to Damian Buck for this report)
The game started as well as can be when an early penalty allowed Redcar to go to the corner, from that a clean catch and drive Redcar hooker Jack Cook scored from the rolling maul. Little complacency from the early try saw Redcar relax a little and miss opportunities and it wasn't long before North Shields had a try of their own. Redcar were next to score as the ball found its way back down to the blindside for winger Luke Watson to dive over. The next try then came from the other winger Daniel Addison, as the ball found its way across the backline, a interesting chip and chase from Addo was collect and he scored.
Half Time North Shields 8 Redcar 17
The second half started strong for Redcar again as a 5m scrum led to a pick and carry from captain Ian Fox, which was offloaded just before touch, straight in to second row Marc Smith’s hands for the try. This seemed to spur the home side in to action as they started to come back scoring 2 tries. With a yellow card for Redcar’s centre Brad Smith with 10 minutes left on the clock, it became a nervy ending, but Redcar’s ball retention, physical defence and an interesting decision from the Shields scrum half, with only minutes to go he didn’t fancy them running 90 or so metres down the pitch to try and win the game, instead he just kicked the ball dead, which gave Redcar the game.
Full Time North Shields 22 Redcar 27