Seaton controlled the play for most of the first twenty minutes and their supremacy was such that tries from Murry Stockdale and Jason Norman, balanced by a long range Blyth penalty,enabled them to take an early 10-3 lead. The departure of Vince Lithgo and Lee Kidson to hospital, however, seemed to galvanise the home side and they hit back with a converted try to produce a 10-10 scoreline at the interval. In the second half, Seaton regained the initiative courtesy of a Craig Moffatt penalty and, despite the loss of key personnel, their forwards 'stood up to the plate' forcing Blyth to take every opportunity to move the ball wide but Seaton's defence stood firm. Bizarrely, however, the next unconverted try came from a scrum on Seaton's seven metre line with a classic back row pick up that gave Blyth the lead. With five minutes remaining, Kevin Tumilty left the fray with a broken arm but Blyth succumbed to a period of intense pressure in which Stockdale forced his way over the line to settle the score at 18-15. Blyth can perhaps count themselves unlucky, for in the final few minutes they broke out of their 22 for what looked like a certain try only to be pulled back for an infringement. In the final analysis this was a splendid all round effort from Seaton, showing composure, maturity and control in difficult circumstances.
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