Bramley made three changes from the team that played so well against Salford in the NRC the previous weeks. Shaun Gilmour, Bradley Asquith and Neil hesketh were unavailable so in came Kevin O'Hare, Steve Gill and Dave Walker.

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In a re-shuffled side Scott Pendlebury moved to scrum half, Jon Nicholls played stand-off and Danny O'Connor started at loose forward.

Playing into the wind in the first half the Buffaloes opened the scoring in the first minute. A strong break by Andy McGann down the left resulted in Scott Pendlebury kicking on the last tackle around the half way-way line, the ball caught in the wind and Danny Johnson was the first to react.

Strong running from Danny from 30 metres resulted in a try under the posts which was converted by Shaun Flynn, a perfect start. Gateshead responded strongly and had plenty of possession inside the Buffaloes half. Danny O'Connor led the defence with some aggressive tackling.

On 12 minutes following a short kick on the last tackle inside the Buffaloes 10m Gavin Houston crossed for Gateshead this was converted by John Coutts.

On 20 minutes another short kick resulted in Peers putting Gateshead into a 10-6 lead. Bramley had a lot of tackling to do as Gateshead saw more of the ball, however after a big hit by Danny Johnson had forced an error in centre field Bramley moved forward with purpose and John Elliker crashed over by the posts following good handling. Shaun Flynn converted and it was 10-12 to Bramley after 25 minutes.


There were no further points in the first half although Gateshead continued to dominate possession. Bramley had to drop out from under their posts on successive sets but excellent scrambling defence kept their line intact.

The half ended in driving rain with Scott Pendlebury putting a deft kick through which was well chased by John Richardson as Bramley ended the half on the attack.

The second half started like the first with Andy McGann going over in the left hand corner for his first try of the season after good approach work by the forwards.

Shaun Flynn added a superb touchline conversion. Five minutes later and Bramley had put daylight between the teams when captain Jon Nicholls touched down following a short kick from Scott Pendlebury,

Gateshead showed great spirit and crossed for a try on 50 minutes, 14-22. Neither team were unable to control the ball for long enough to make the possession count and for 15 minutes the game ebbed and flowed.

On 64 minutes another kick from Gateshead resulted in a try in the corner which appeared to everyone had been bounced by the winger in the act of scoring, the referee allowed the try and at 18-22 it was game on. Gateshead's missed conversions could prove costly.

Bramley however re-grouped and dominated the last 15 minutes of the game. John Elliker crossed for his seventh try of the season on 70 minutes which was again converted from wide-out by Shaun Flynn.

Two minutes lated another short Scott Pendlebury kick saw Matt Mullholland ghost through the Gateshead defence for an easy touch-down. Finally on 79 minutes Matt stepped through 3 tackles to cross for his second try of the game, converted by Shaun Flynn.

Gateshead are a vastly improved side on last year and long very competitive. The Buffaloes meanwhile did enough to win, good scrambling defence, aggressive tackling and some explosive finishing once they had got field position. Tougher tasks lay ahead but a good performance to build on non the less.

Bramley assistant coach, Mark Butterill, said, "That was a tough encounter, Gateshead are vastly improved on last year and all credit too them. We were naive with the ball in hand and can play much better than that. "

"we've a few things to work on during training this week and we'll improve for Hemel next sunday," concluded Butterill

Final score 18-38.

Game star: For the second week running, Storm's massively influential pivot Michael Watton was involved in everything and did not deserve to be on the losing side.

Game breaker: John Elliker's second try, 12 minutes from time, with only four points separating the sides was the impetus for Bramley to finish strongly.


GATESHEAD STORM: 1 Liam Andrews, 2 Gavin Houston, 3 Andy Morris, 4 Duncan Bain, 5 Robin Peers, 6 Michael Watton, 7 John Coutts, 8 Jonny Scott, 9 Dave Vernon, 10 Andrew Barnes, 11 Chris Burnett, 12 Mick Dixon, 13 Neil Emmerson
Subs: (All Used) 14 Shaun Wood, 15 Robert Roxborough, 16 Rhys Clarke, 17 Ed Ainscoe

Tries: Houston (12), Peers (23) Clarke (60) Dixon (63)

Goals: Coutts



BRAMLEY BUFFALOES: 1 Shaun Flynn, 2 David Walker, 3 Matt Mulholland, 4 Andy McGann, 5 John Richardson, 6 Jon Nicholls, 7 Scott Pendlebury, 8 Richard Leese, 9 Thomas Webb, 10 Danny Johnson, 11 John Elliker, 12 Gareth Thirsk, 13 Danny O'Connor
SUBS: (All Used) 14 Kevin O'Hare, 15 Graham Harrison, 16 Steven Gill, 17 Mark Butterill

Tries: Johnson (1), Elliker (30, 68), McGann (42), Nicholls (50), Mulholland (71, 78)

Goals: Flynn (5)

Men of the Match:

Gateshead Storm - Michael Watton

Bramley Buffaloes – Danny Johnson

Referee: Craig Swanson

Half time: 10-12