That came courtesy of a last minute Danny Quinn penalty from out wide.
Fortunately,there were no similar dramas at Brinkburn where we found ourselves in the unaccustomed position of having to deal with the scrum going repeatedly backwards.
The Wearsiders had the benefit of the wind and rain at their backs in the first half, and were keen to prove themselves on their first league visit.
They caught us cold, in every sense, and went into a deserved lead after five minutes when their big forwards finished off a catch and drive which was converted.
Parity was restored on our first visit to the Sunderland 22. Ryan Painter went on to earn the Man of the Match award and set the move going with Adam Coates and Ollie Connolly taking the ball on before Alex Barker sent Adam Brown under the posts with a well timed inside pass.
The conditions weren't helpful to any of the 31 on the pitch with lots of handling errors and penalty awards, but another show of good handling gave us the lead for the first time. Full back Sam Heron coming into the line to help send Owen Westhorp on his way from outside the 22.
The winger cut inside, shrugged off a couple of tackles, evaded another defender and forced his way over in the corner.
So we turned round 12-7 up and with the elements now in our favour - hopefully an easier 40 minutes was in store.
Ryan Painter set us going once again -seizing on a tap and go to outpace the disorganised visiting defence in a 40 metre foot race to the line. Zac converted and surely we were on our way to that win.
The news of the 19-7 score was still being relayed to our worldwide support base (notably Romania and the USA) via the website message board, while Sunderland restarted. So what happened next is a mystery, at least to your match reporter.
There were loud groans from those in the stand and the sight of a Sunderland player touching down under the posts. Apparently it was an interception direct from the kick off - regardless the margin was now back to 7 points.
Once again it was Ryan Painter who rose to the challenge. We attacked up the left and when the ball came back from a ruck the scrum half sent a perfectly judged chip over the defenders from 15 metres out and he was first to the touchdown. Unfortunately the weather made life tricky for the kickers, with Zac missing this relatively easy conversion. However, the bonus point was in the bag.
Victory itself was just about assured when Adam Coates made a trademark burst through the middle. The support was there and when the ball was recycled right Heron was once again in the line to spot Westhorp in acres of space on the right - he found him wth an unconventional bounce pass. Zac was wide again but with 15 minutes left on the clock we were more than two scores ahead.
Sunderland didn't accept that scoreline as a fait accompli and came back strongly with their forwards eventually going over in the corner to complete procedures.
It was a hard work out for the pack, and credit to the backs for scoring four of the tries despite not getting as much go-forward possession as they would have liked. Great to see Liam Bailey and Ben Armstrong back in action and a very confident debut on the wing for Ollie Mossop.
A week off next Saturday followed by a big one against Northern at Brinkburn on October 16th.
West: Sam Heron, Owen Westhorp, Will Hilditch, Zac Southern, Ollie Mossop, Ollie Connolly, Ryan Painter, Adam Coates, Adsam Hutchinson, Adam Brown, Jake Linighan, James Tyers, Alex Barker, Scott Butcher, Chris Atkins.
Changes: Liam Bailey, Ben Armstrong, Michael Hogan.
Tries: Painter (2), Westhorp (2), Brown.
Cons: Southern (2)
Sunderland: Ben Hutchinson, Reece Thompson, James Gibson, Adam Barrass, Andrew Pears, Marc Edmundson, Alex Tuckwell, Kieron Hanlon, Peter Harrison, Richard Arrowsmith, Michael Holder, David Russell, Devrim Koca, Grant Edmundson, Jake Belfield.
Changes: Liam Evans, Oliver Beattie, Cameron Grimwood.
Ref: Les Cash (Durham).