A decent sized crowd at Brinkburn were treated to a display full of effort but missing the edge and aggression of the rivalry which appears to have diminished in recent years.

That said our defence was excellent throughout and bar Rovers’ try three minutes from time held up to some lengthy periods of visitors pressure. Attackers were being driven back in the tackles and pressure in the backline led to several handling errors, breaking up attacks.

Going forward we looked the more dangerous with ball in hand but didn’t display the continuity needed to run in a bigger score. This was not helped by a stop-start game littered with penalties and messy scrums which inevitably ended with a free-kick or penalty after several resets. One thing important in games like these is to accumulate points and we did convert most of our visits into the 22 with a score which ensured we were never under significant pressure on the scoreboard and could be happy letting Rovers have the ball and make our tackles.

An interception a-piece set up an early attack for both sides. First Peter Youll raced away only for the attack to be halted by a penalty for holding on and then David Grand broke for Rovers from inside his own half only to trip as he tried to cut inside the last defender. Daz Fawcett opened the scoring with a penalty after 5 minutes.

With 10 minutes gone Chris Atkins took us into the lead [pictured] when he went in untouched for a try taking a nice inside pass from Zac Southern who added the conversion.

A lengthy series of scrums inside the Rovers 22 eventually resulted in a penalty try when the ball was kicked out of the scrum just before Sam Miller was going to touch down. It was an inevitable end to a passage of play which had also seen Rovers second row Anthony Hanley yellow carded.

Attacking impetus for Rovers improved with the introduction of Josh Bragman at fly-half after the break but ultimately they couldn’t find the cutting edge to break through for a score and were relying on missed tackles to break through the West defensive line.

The next score seemed like it would decide the game but it took 25 minutes of the second half to arrive. An excellent looping pass capitalised on an overlap and allowed Luke Mallinson to race over into the left corner. With Southern and Waites both off the field his own conversion attempt drifted wide.

Rovers were finally rewarded for their attacking efforts with 3 minutes remaining. Having had several mauls held up over the line, replacement back row Michael Foster finished off another forward drive with Bragman converting.

West: Waites, Jamieson, Butcher, Youll, Mallinson, Southern, Painter, Wood, Rollins, Coates, Corbett, Atkins, Bailey, Boatman, Miller.

Reps: Barker, Angus, Rafferty, Hogan, Baggs, Jackson, Edwards, Johnston, Quinn.

Tries: Atkins [10], Penalty [34], Mallinson [65]

Cons: Southern 2 [10, 34]

YC: Atkins

Rovers: Austwicke, Grand, Gunn, Coulson, Smith, Fawcett, Barnfield, Bunting, A Flounders, Little, Hanley, Langley, Church, Maddison, Wilson.

Reps: I Flounders, Tucker, Grazier, Foster, Baxter, Bragman

Try: Foster [77]

Con: Bragman [77]

Pen: Fawcett [5]

YC: Hanley

Referee: Tony Jenkins [Durham Society]