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Houghton do their bit for Tankie's Battle
It was a proud day for Houghton RUFC as player Richard Lydiatt represented the club in Tankie’s Battle at Kingston Park.
The North East Select XV played against Newcastle Falcons Legends on Friday evening. The charity match was to raise money for Newcastle Falcons’ Premiership title-winning prop Paul ‘Tank’ Van-Zandvliet, who has recently been diagnosed with inoperable cancer.
Making up the North East select XV were players from teams across Durham and Northumberland.
Houghton’s Richard Lydiatt, said: “It was a great honour to represent my club and take part in a very special night. As a Falcons fan I have always wanted to take part in a game at Kingston Park and when the club directors gave me the opportunity to represent the club I jumped at the chance.
“It was a really surreal night. Johnny Wilkinson presented our match shirts and I lined up next to Martin Corry in the tunnel before the game!”
To keep things interesting an alternative scoring system was brought into play. This awarded 20 points to the North East Select XV for each try and just five points to the Legends.
However, The Legends were not short of showing their well-kept talent as they outscored their opponents by ten ties to end the game 58-58.
Lydiatt added: “The game felt very fast and the Falcons legends haven't lost any of their desire to win. They smashed into every contact and it was a very physical game and a night I will never forget.
“I managed to make a few tackles and compete at the breakdown but it was a really fast game and so hard to get hold of the ball.”
The ground provided a great atmosphere for the players with clubs and fans turning out to support Tankie’s Battle.
Chairman at Houghton Rugby Club, John Simpson said: “It was a wonderful opportunity for the Club players in the North East to play against former Falcons players and contribute to such a worthwhile cause.
“It was a great honour to the club that Richard Lydiatt was selected to represent us. I would like to thank our club members that turned out to support both Lydiatt and the charity.”
The two sides included
NEWCASTLE FALCONS LEGENDS: Stuart Grimes, Garath Archer, Micky Ward, Dave Walder, Steve O'Neill, Mike Wood, Gary Armstong, Dean Ryan, Jim Naylor, Stuart Legg, Jason Oakes, Michael Stephenson, James Cartmell, Phil Godman, Andy Perry, Ian Chandler, Carlo Antonio del Fava, Steve Douglas, Neil Frankland, Shaun Richardson, Martin Wilson, Joel Branagan, George Robson, Danny Brown, Pat Lam, John Fowler, Simon Mason, Ross Beattie, Billy Balshen, Martin Corry, Leon Van-Zandvliet.
NORTH-EAST SELECT: Richard Lydiatt (Houghton), Ian Chandler, Graeme Clarkson, Fergus Mitchell, Steve Douglas, Matt Long (all ex-Gosforth), Noel Mather, Craig Tomlinson, Leon Smart, Neil Mather, Ross Bailey (all Whitley Bay Rockliff), Peter Carter (Sunderland), Shaun Cassidy (Middlesbrough), Lyndon Tweddle, Garry Hodgson, Greg Hayes (all Medicals), David Whitehead, Deano Laws (all Northern), Glen Teeley (Combined Police), Graeme Turnbull, Paul Richardson (all Ponteland), Paul Spowart, Mark Jackson, Greg Dixon (all Percy Park), David Carson (Hartlepool), Jo Coffey, Alan Rogers, Graham Crozier (all Gosforth), Paul Jackson, Paul Mooney, Dave Reed (all Morpeth), Andrew Wilkinson (Army), Craig Wrightson (Wallsend), Andrew Tucker (Guisborough), Mickey Wright (Newcastle Ravens), Neil Young (Redcar), Gareth Kerr (ex-Falcons academy), David Mackenzie, Dan McKay (all South Shields), Jack Liddle (Prudhoe and Stocksfield), Duncan Henderson (Ashington), Richard Elliot (Alnwick), Mike Hay.