Thanks to Damian Buck for this match report.

First and foremost I'd like to thank the lads who played and put on a shirt for Redcar last night. This was not a fixture that necessarily had to be played, so to have 20+ lads come forward after playing on Saturday, and willing to travel to Gateshead is a testament to the current mentality and willingness to play for the club. In the famous words of Wayne Gretzky "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take" The game started as Redcar games have previously after conceding an early try and two penalties (the Gateshead kicker was on fire this evening), this spurred the Redcar lads in to action and for 20-30 minutes kept the game competitive and close with Daniel Addison adding a penalty of our own and hitting the post on another attempt. With the last play of the first half Gateshead bundled over for a try that seem to rock the visitors.

Half Time Gateshead 21 Redcar 3

The second half was a different story for the home side. Their dominant scrum and lineout set the platform for some big strong runners, who also played the game with pace and weren't scared to move it about. Redcar did get a try late in the game as Luke Watson found some space round the edges to score his 29th try of the season and continue his run of scoring in every game he's played this season.

Final Score Gateshead 73 Redcar 10

A final massive thank you to all the lads who travelled and made themselves available, those who came up and supported as well as help organise the fixture. While chances of promotion may now go a-miss, we have the opportunity next season to continue the development of this young squad and I'm sure the boys will be looking to put in a good game as we finish the season at Horden.