Johnny Hunter returned to the front row alongside Morgan Hamilton. Bob Leighton was back in the second row and the scrum was also bolstered by Scotty Parker and a man who had broken into some first team rugby last season before also breaking his face somewhat, Josh Riley.

Stockton had made some good signings over the off season and their strong side showed early getting a few early tries.

West struggled to get out of first gear in the early going but after Jordan Painter made a great burst down the wing the tide seemed to be turning. As he galloped down the wing, he was caught short, but had the skills and wherewithal to pop to the support Danny Quinn who finished the move before converting the try.

The remainder of the second half saw the Stags in the ascendancy, regathering a loose ball from a restart, James Tyers, broke through passing to Liam Rutherford, who was a powerful runner all afternoon, who was to be the first of 3 tries to be held up in a 10 minute period. The stags kept pounding on the Stockton try line until the referee was to warn the opposition before the half time whistle came to their aid.

HT approx. 21 – 7

Second half, the effort was personified by one man, Liam Larkin, who was a tackling machine, absolutely smashing Stokton’s 10 and first receivers on numerous occasions.

Several other players put in blood, sweat and teeth with Borthwick having another great game from a difficult day at 8.

The stags were able to score a second but, that person has confirmed that it was to be a team effort and would prefer to remain nameless, and in no way has anything to do with the memory of the writer. Irrespective, building block and lessons learnt. Ladies day next week sees the Stags take on Bishop Auckland which has always proved an entertaining fixture.

Stags: Gertiz, Hamilton, Hunter, Leighton, J. Tyers, Riley, Larkin, Borthwick, Conley, Quinn, Smith, J. Painter, Rutherford, Willis, Hazel. Sub – Parker

Tries – Quinn, A. Nother

Scran - Handsome cheeseburger and chips with the option of proper (as emphasized by Mr. Geritz) onions.