Medicals arrived one place ahead of us in a competive league, with their energetic defence and youthful and speedy backs showing why they are having a decent season.
We had the advantage in the scrum, but both sides struggled in the line-out where the slide rule was in force to measure "not-straight's". This game must have had a record number.
Ryan Painter and Ollie Connolly were back to add some tackling and grit to the back division. Both played a part in the opening try which saw Max Tennant celebrate his first start for several years. He went over in the left hand corner after the ball was quickly and simply moved wide.
That wasn't a pattern which was to be repeated as we left quite a few tries on the pitch. There were several "three on one's" where the option to throw the long pass out straight to the winger allowed the defence to stifle the attack.
Medicals reduced the arrears with a penalty before Owen Westhorp stretched our lead - going over in the opposite corner. The forwards had built pressure on the visiting line with Will Corbett popping up to send Owen in with a deft ball out the back of the hand.
Corbett is making a great job of transitioning from a speedy junior winger, and nationally recognised cyclist, to an athletic second row. He's learning the new role quickly - possibly helped by the advice from his grandad on the touchline.
In a tight game Medicals seized on their chance to capitalise on those slick backs with the right winger going in take the score to 12-8 at the break.The breeze was with us in the second half, which almost got off to a great start when Ollie Connolly burst through the middle.
His 50 metre dash was stopped just short of the posts with Scott Butcher unfortunately knocking on as the support arrived.
Missed chances became the order of day with most of the play in the the Medicals half. Sam Heron did take the opportunity to add some points with an easy penalty, while the visitors lost their fly half for ten minutes for a deliberate knock on.
A little surprisingly the same sentence was doled out to one of their forwards for what appeared to be a head butt on Stu Waites. Stu requiring treatement to the cut on his head from our own medic.
We failed to take advantage of the reduced numbers, but did finally manage to breech the hard working defence when Waites sent quick ball wide to the left to send Sam Heron in from close range. Sam's conversion was wide but the score gave us a 12 point margin .
That looked comfortable until, once again, we let in a try with the very last play of the game. Speedy right winger Harry Sagar had started his run on the half-way line and, once he'd evaded a couple of challenges, there was no stopping him as he raced for the corner.
Stockton benefitted from similar generosity in our last home game. Let's hope allowing rivals losing bonus points doesn't cost us at the end of the season.
Once again we suffered some injuries - notably to Chris Atkins, who took a bang to the head, with Max Tennant also on the physio table this week as we prepare to travel to a struggling Rockcliff.
West: Will Hilditch, Owen Westhorp, Sam Heron, Ollie Connolly, Max Tennant, Stu Waites, Ryan Painter, Adam Coates, Aidan-Jackson-Smith, Cameron Allison, Jake Linighan, Will Corbett, Owen Nugent, Alex Barker, Scott Butcher.
Changes: Lewis Scott, Craig Hadwen, Chris Atkins.
Tries: Tennant, Westhorp, Heron.
Cons: Heron. Pens: Heron.
Medicals: Andrew White, Harry Sagar, Oliver Gutteridge, Guy Kingsley-Smith, Sol Gosine, Charles Cloke, Tomas Miguel Gonella, Joe Gutteridge, Jack Swain, Richard Clegg, Will Moore, James Black, Harry Armstrong, Joe Munro, Bilal Mohammed.
Changes: Marc Ward-Skilbeck, Rob Bull, Andrew Thompson.
Tries: Sagar (2).
Pen:. Cloke
Referee: Lewis Lacey (Durham)