A GUSTY wind was blowing at Seaham to kick off proceedings against high-flying Guisborough, with the elements favouring the home team in the first half.

Guisborough were soon awarded a penalty inside their 22 metre area, but the kick to touch failed to reach its target. The ball was kicked back by the home team and was allowed to bounce deep in Guisborough territory. The Seaham full-back rushed forward and was first to react, collecting and breaking tackles to score the first try of the afternoon. The conversion extended Seaham’s lead.

Settling into the game, Guisborough came forward with Jack Robinson, Ewan Cameron and Phil Shields combining to take play towards the Seaham try line. Here a penalty was awarded to the visitors, which was kicked to touch.

A further infringement gave Guisborough the platform to be within breathing distance of the whitewash, before an inside pass to Shields saw him dart over to score in the left-hand corner. A difficult conversion was dispatched by Robinson.

Shields was soon in the thick of the action again. As Guisborough attacked, it appeared as though Seaham’s defence had held firm. However, a neat grubber kick by the full-back towards the left-hand touchline was collected by Cameron on the bounce and he touched down to give Guisborough the lead. Robinson was successful again with the conversion.

Soon after, Guisborough’s Michael MacDougall sustained an injury forcing him off the pitch. His replacement, Adam Bell, was soon in the action. After a break by Henry Turner and Matt Rawlinson along the right flank, play switched to the left. A loose pass was gathered by Bell, setting up a ruck from which he ghosted in on the blindside to score. A high tackle saw Seaham reduced to 14players for ten minutes, and Guisborough capitalised. As the visitors took play inside the home team's 22, Robinson had time to spot a gap, before shimmying through to cross the whitewash. The try brought the first half to its end with the scoreboard reading Seaham 7, Guisborough 24.

With the bonus point secured, and with the advantage of the wind, Guisborough looked to extend their lead as the second half got underway. A scrum to the hosts saw their pack pushed off the ball, allowing the visitors to gain possession.

Nick Taggart secured the ball, before Jannie Jacobs and Robinson created space for Shields to exploit and score his second try of the game. Now in control, Guisborough were awarded a scrum 15 metres out. An initial nudge forward allowed Liam Corcoran to break right. Drawing defenders towards him, he then popped a pass to Tony Conway and the scrum-half sprinted over to touch down in the right-hand corner.

Another forward burst by Guisborough saw Alex Ruff heading towards the posts. Brought down just short, the referee blew his whistle for a penalty to the visitors. Before it could be taken, he then brandished a red card towards the Seaham flanker, reducing the home team to 14 players for the remainder of the match. The sending off did neither team any favours, as the fluency in play escaped Guisborough and the game became scrappy. Any attacks by the visitors were dealt with by a solid home team defence.

And so the game petered out without any further scores and with the referee blowing his whistle to bring the game to its conclusion, the scoreboard reading Seaham 7, Guisborough 34 .

On Saturday, league-leaders Guisborough play second-placed Hartlepool, who have won all their ten games since losing to Guisborough in October last year.