Not a good day at the Office.

As we left Stockton, it was a mild and settled afternoon, by the time we arrived at Gateshead it was cold and blowing a gale.
The home side started with the strong and gusty wind at their backs and after a promising start, Stockton went 7-0 behind when Gateshead scored by the post after a defensive lapse. Soon after this, the two sides swapped penalties and after 20 minutes the game was looking fairly even at Gateshead 10, Stockton 3.
The game was then completely turned on its head as Gateshead scored 2 tries in 2 minutes (1 converted), both from further poor Stockton defence. The sides went to halftime with the score 22-3 to the home side.
Stockton now had the strong wind at their backs and there was still a reasonable chance that they could get something out of the game if they scored first. Unfortunately this wasn't to be and Gateshead took a complete stranglehold on the game to come out convincing winners by 48 points to 15, Stockton's tries being scored by Jeremy Good and Steve Bartliff, Jeremy also converting his own try.

John Coates