SUNDAY June 18

Gateshead Senators 72  Knottingley Raiders 6

On a scorching hot day at Monkton Stadium, the Knottingley Raiders made the trip up north to face off against the Senators for the very first time.

The Senators were looking to keep their winning streak going and put on a strong display to send out a message to the rest of the league. Teams may know what the senators do, but not many seem capable of stopping them doing it!

The game started with a bang with The Senators O line springing Stephen Taylor away to scamper into the end zone on just the second play of the game. This set the tone for the day for the offence.

Chris Scrace should be very proud of his O line unit (Dubbed The Great Wall of Green by some), they, alongside unspoken Fullback heroes Ryan Fletcher and Michael Rumney dug deep in the trenches and allowed Quarterback’s Robb Watts and Dan Laing to pick apart the Raiders defence with a dominant passing display that took the opposition by complete surprise.

They completed a trio of sublime touchdowns between them, the highlight being Dan Laing’s 45 yard bomb to star receiver Darren Mould.

Once again Captain Gavin Barr spearheaded a Power Run attack that netted him 4 touchdowns on the day, one of which was an 80 yard dash that proved too much for the away team to handle. 

Stephen Taylor bobbed and weaved his way in for two scores on the day to add to his impressive tally this season.

Robb Watts continued to display his all round athleticism by running in the final TD himself. 

The remaining scores came from 2 point conversions the pick of them being Alex Atkinson’s athletic catch in the back of the end zone.

The Senators defence again had a strong day, showing a combination of speed and power across the field.

Knottingley did score early in the first quarter, but this was down to a terrific effort on behalf of their star receiver who made what seemed like a miracle catch to put the Raiders in fantastic field position.

However this did nothing but fire up the defence even more and with coaching adjustments made they did not give up another score all game.

Steven Wilson and Sean Curtain were dominant on the interior of a D line that was missing one of its regulars, Dan Graham stepped up at Defensive end and made a series of big splash plays including a vital fumble recovery.

Sean Wilcock, Michael “Matthew” Goddard and Dan Coultish controlled the centre of the field stuffing the run and their tireless work gave the outside linebacking duo of Craig Lenahan and Jay Towolawi free reign to wreak havoc all game.

The Raiders air attack approach did not bother James Steele one bit, going up for two interceptions on the day. 

The Defensive backs lead by Kris Barr had a field day also, with countless passes defended and Glen Fyvie not content with his two interceptions on the day he also decided to put in a superhuman effort of return duties giving the Senators great field position all game.

Rounding out the display Darren Mould’s laser guided punts left the Raiders backed up on their own 5 yard line on more than one occasion.

Gateshead now look forward to their next fixture at home to The Walney Terriers on July 2nd at Monkton Stadium. 

We encourage everyone to come along and witness what is fast becoming a season to remember. Free entry for Under 16's is available for all remaining home games. 

Submitted by Rob Johnson & Sean Wilcock