Gateshead Storm made the trip to Tyneside rivals Wallsend Eagles, keen to kick on from a fine performance against Peterlee Pumas the week before. Coach Adam Houston, well aware that his boys had never beaten Eagles in a competitive fixture, approached the game with confidence after a good showing against Peterlee Pumas a week before.

Strong Defence was the order of the day from both teams with Storm enjoying long periods of possession near the Eagles line but unable to find the final pass to break the deadlock. Eagles tried to break clear from their line but time and time again some strong hits forcing errors kept Eagles pinned back. The home side’s persistence paid off however mid-way through the first half when a sweeping move seeing the ball worked from the right hand side of the field to the left found Connor Francis in space, he ran at the retreating Storm line, and showed great awareness and skill to finish from half way before stepping up and converting his own score to put the Hosts ahead 6-0 to the good.

This had the positive effect on the team that coach Robin Peers wanted, with Eagles working their way up the field from the very next set. Only a valiant defensive effort from Matthew Whitfield prevented a certain score, the Storm man hauling an Eagles player down just short of the line. Storm’s best on the day, Callum Davidson, then produced a moment of magic when he picked up inside his own 20m and made a break, making 60-70m before being hauled down by chasing defender Keiran Drape. Charlie Leask, showing his awareness to push in support, was the benefactor of a quick play the ball when he picked up and darted over the line before kicking the goal to better his own score just before half time with the clubs turning round all square at the break.

Storm started brightest after the break coming near to scoring on two occasions before they took the lead for the first time, which proved to be a lead they would never relinquish. Back to back penalties resulted in good field position before Matthew Whitfield scored his first try for the club, powering over from close range. Jack Munrofinished off a fine move when the ball found him out wide on the left before the winger cut in field against the sliding defence. Charlie Leask’s conversion attempt sailing between the posts after his previous attempt fell wide, giving Storm a 10 point lead.

Eagles needed a response and it came immediately from the restart. Will Doyle’s hanging kick getting the better of James Cooney as the fullback ran to gather it, but spilled it in the sun. From the resulting scrum, Doyle demonstrated his strength to carry 4 defenders over the line with him, sparking hopes of a fight back to come within one score. This was not to be however when Storm scored an exact copy of the Eagles previous try. Jack Hills’ high restart was knocked on by Mitchell Mullen before Matty Andrew broke from the base of the scrum to cross under the posts, gifting Leask with the easy goal to make the score 10-22.

Again Wallsend refused to lie down and take defeat and forced an error from Storm just inside the Gateshead half. A neat play down the short side saw centre Mullen looking destined to score before Steven Veitch made an excellent diving cover tackle to stop the centre close to the line on the last tackle. This again spurred on the visitors and after a couple of back to back penalties, James Cooney was quickest to react with a tap and darted between the posts, Leask’s conversion bringing the score to 10-28 and sealing the win for Storm and with it, top spot in the league for another week.

GATESHEAD STORM : James Cooney, Callum Davison, Jack Hills, John Cain, Jack Munro, Steven Veitch, Sam Wadey, Adam Leng, Luke Milburn, Ryan Burr, Matty Whitfield, Jake Richardson, Cameron Turnbull

SUBS (All Used) Jason Burke, Liam Marshall, Chris Goldsmith, Charlie Leask, Matty Andrews, Liam O’Halloran

Scorers

Gateshead: T: Leask, Whitfield, Munro, Andrews, Cooney

G: Leask 4/5

Man of the Match:

Storm: Callum Davison

Referee: Matthew Hinchley

Half Time: 6-6
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Player Of The Match

Callum Davidson

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