That came on 51 minutes when fly half Moses sent in a 30 metre effort which everyone but the ref saw was a good four feet under the bar. I won't name the Northumberland official because he was profuse in his apologies and he only gave what he saw ... but it wouldn't have been so funny if the game had been vital.

The "dg" made the score 21-15 to the home side but Darren Thomas rounded off a tremendous personal performance by putting things right with a blindside break which Davy Tighe converted.

This season you can normally tell after the first five minutes which West has turned up. At Alnwick it was the one which has got points against all the top sides, apart from Huddersfield, and not the one which has dropped points against sides which are relegated or finished below us.

There are supporters of other clubs who point out that our victories against them prevented us from getting relegated, but conversely if we had performed against Stockton [twice], Redcar [twice], Horden and Morpeth [once apiece] we would have been challenging for promotion. Let's hope for more consistency next season.

At Alnwick Davy Tighe started like a steam train and had three breaks down the right wing in the first 15 minutes.

His third produced a result for the excellent Jon Boatman, supporting on his inside shoulder, and he took the perfectly timed pass which sent him over the line and cantering in under the posts.

Alnwick second row Lamb had watched the score unfold from behind the West posts where he had been sent on 11 minutes for killing the ball.

While he was off we grabbed a second. The move started from our own 22 with Paul Rudd making twenty metres to offload to Chummers who was "ghosting" along in the inside centre berth. He drew his man and sent Tim Sawyer galloping off on a 30 metre run before he timed his pass to sent Andrew Hare jinking past the full back for his score. Davy Tighe missed the conversion but at 12-0 we were looking good for a decent win.

But the home side weren't about to give in. Full back Dawson pulled back 3 points with a penalty on 21 minutes and then four minutes later got themselves back into it with a interception.

The West forwards were continuing to do their best to show Milne and Co how to run the ball. This time Henry Tones popped up in midfield and had Hodgson and Hare outside him and looking good for a sprint to the line. Unfortunately for Henry his pass was snaffled by centre Rob Howliston who had an easy run in.

At 12-10 to West the game was well set and the home side went ahead on the half hour with another Dawson penalty to give them the lead for the first time in the game. Davy restored the status quo a minute later to make it 15-13 to West at the break.

Phil Wllis was replaced by Alex Barker at the break after suffering a facial injury in the first half. Alex went onto the wing with Todd dropping back to 15 and Darren Thomas moving to scrum half and Tighe to 10.

Alnwick came out all guns blazing and lively winger John Snaith put them back in front when he finished off a slick move along the backs after a line out on our 22. Dawson missed the conversion.

At 18-15 the next score was vital. It came from that speculative drop goal which the Ref gave but even the sporting home crowd were quick to ridicule.

As so often happens the decision set the tempers off and Boatman was almost immediately yellow carded for stamping in a ruck.

That could have been the signal for West to concede more points but we defended well. Martin Todd almost broke through when he glided through the home side only for a last ditch tackle by Dawson to stop him getting the glory and the elusive try he has been striving for all season.

Instead the honour went to Darren Thomas and that superb blindside break from a scrum 30 metres out.

Alnwick came back in the last ten minutes and fired in a volley of drop goals from way out in the hope that lightning may strike twice. It didn't.

Alnwick: G Dawson, J Snaith, R Howliston, T Kirkup, A Wilson, A Moses, S Manners, Aa Armstrong, S Auld, A Armstrong, M Smith, J Lamb, D Gray, S Archer, D Smith: Reps: M Allen, m. Kirkup, S Bremner.

West: Darren Thomas, Martin Todd, Peter Hodgson, Allan Milne, Andrew Hare, Phil Wallis [Alex Barker 40], Davy Tighe [capt], Brett Cullinane, Anth Carr, Mark Cholmondeley [Ryan Phillips 60] , Paul Rudd, Andrew Davies, Tim Sawyer, Henry Tones [Carl Miller 55], Jon Boatman. Reps: Carl Miller, Ryan Phillips, Alex Barker.