The Bees followed up last week's

scintillating display at Preston Grass-hoppers with 40 minutes of the best rugby seen at Wagon Lane in many years.

Unfortunately, after a first half that was all about champagne rugby, the Bees turned in a second-half performance akin to a flat lager shandy.

The home support thought a 70 or 80-point winning margin was on the cards as the sides turned round, as the Bees ran in 38 points in the first half and were utterly dominant in every phase of the game.

Last season Tynedale had turned round an 18-point half time deficit to beat the Bees by 17 points, but it would have seemed utterly ludicrous to suggest that the men in blue and white who trooped off at half-time could possibly pull back the 31-point advantage to overhaul the Wagon Lane men.

However, they very nearly did it, and with the scoreline at 38-29 in the late afternoon gloom, it was the home supporters who were nervously watching the clock tick down the final minutes.

Things began brightly for the Bees as Jonny Leota claimed the first points after three minutes. The Samoan centre stepped inside his opposite number 40 metres out and set off on a run towards the oppostion posts. After dancing round four or five Tynedale defenders, his strength took him and the final tackler over the goal-line for the score. Tom Rhodes landed an easy conversion.

With the Bees next significant incursion into Tynedale territory the score was increased to 10-0 as flanker Ian Judson was on the end of a passing movement to the left of the posts to barge his way over, ignoring the overlap to his left and thumping man and ball over the whitewash. Tom Rhodes failed with the conversion.

Then on 14 minutes, completely out of the blue, Tynedale broke away from a tapped penalty and brought the score back to 12-7 as Duncan romped unopposed under the posts.

The Bees seemed to simply shrug off this setback and replied with a try of their own as soon as they regained possession. Joe Simpson crossed in the right corner having been put clear from a maul by Joseph Heta.

Scrum half Heta was next to score on 25 minutes as the Bees drove into the heart of the Tynedale defence. The Kiwi No 9 darted through a gap to score under the posts. Tom Rhodes added the extras and the Bees were now scoring at better than a point a minute.

It was only two minutes later that the scoreboard clicked on to 31-7 as Ian Judson was put clear by Jonny Leota after a superb passage of play along the Tynedale 22, where several Bees players flipped the ball left then right to bewilder the visitors' defence.

The Bees' dominance continued and with two minutes left in the half, Bloues Volschenk claimed a five-pointer, driving over from a maul near the Tynedale line.

Although the Bees had played with the advantage of a stiff breeze in the opening 40, it was not such a significant factor in the second half that it could explain the indifferent performance the Bees put together.

When Duncan claimed a second try for the visitors two minutes into the half as the Bees turned over the ball, it was assumed to be a minor blip. However, aside from one superb solo break on the hour from Jonny Leota - who was denied a score when the touch judge decided he had hit the corner flag before grounding the ball - the Bees did not make a significant incursion into Tynedale territory.

Two tries from full back Will Massey on 59 and 70 minutes and a penalty from the same player dragged the vistors back into the game and meant the once dominant home side had to ride out a nervous final couple of minutes.