Hartlepool Rovers ran in a remarkable 13 tries as they swept aside Blyth in their penultimate home fixture of the season, producing one of the most entertaining performances seen at The New Friarage this year.

With Rovers now out of the promotion conversation, the focus for the remainder of the campaign is simple: finish as high up the table as possible and enjoy the rugby. Blyth arrived rooted to the bottom of the league after a difficult season, but nothing was taken for granted. The reverse fixture earlier in the campaign had been a tough, physical encounter, and Rovers knew they would need to be fully committed from the outset.

They could not have started better.

From the opening exchanges Rovers played with pace and intent, and it was Barnfield who was quickest to react to a misplaced Blyth pass, racing clear to score under the posts. Fawcett added the conversion. Further pressure quickly followed, with Lithgo, enjoying a lively spell at scrum-half, and Wright both crossing for tries, each converted by Fawcett to make it 21–0 inside 20 minutes.

The scoring continued at a relentless rate. Two quick converted tries on 25 and 26 minutes extended the lead to 35–0, with Rochester stepping his way through the Blyth defence before a memorable moment saw colt Joel Alloub claim his first senior try — hopefully the first of many in a Rovers shirt.

On 35 minutes the impressive Dixon added another, although this time Fawcett was unable to add the extras. At 40–0, Rovers were almost scoring at a point-a-minute.

To Blyth’s credit, heads never dropped. Right on the stroke of half-time they were rewarded for their persistence with a well-worked converted try to give the travelling support something to cheer as the sides went in.

The second half took a few minutes to spark into life, but once it did Rovers were back in full flow. Lithgo grabbed a well-deserved brace, with Fawcett slotting the conversion, before Barnfield added his second moments later as the home side continued to stretch the scoreline.

The forwards then had their say, with Lee Clayton channeling prime Davy Carroll to power over from a metre out. Another conversion from Fawcett took Rovers past the 60-point mark at 61–7.

Rochester then popped up for a quick double to complete a superb hat-trick, both tries again converted by the increasingly busy Fawcett. A converted Healey try brought up the 80 points before Blyth struck back with their second score of the afternoon, once more showing real determination to keep competing until the final whistle.

The scoring was completed on 75 minutes when Rochester crossed for his fourth of the match. With Fawcett’s leg finally tiring, the conversion drifted wide, leaving the final score at 85–14.

It was a huge win for Rovers. Club historians will know the record books, but many will remember the 89 points scored against Wallsend some 17 years ago — this performance was not far away from that landmark.

Full credit must go to Blyth, who held the upper hand in the scrum and were excellent at the line-out. However, Rovers possessed too much pace and power across the park. The home side showed excellent skill, keeping the ball alive and offloading at every opportunity. In games like this scores can sometimes be lower through individual greed, but this was a true team display, with players 1–18 all playing their part.

Attention now turns to a very different challenge next week, as Rovers travel away to Jarrow, who comfortably beat Rovers at home earlier in the season.