However, it's the result which matters and the win puts West three points clear at the top of Counties 1 D&N after three opening games -  all against last season's promoted sides.

Backed by a large, and vocal, following "Old Boy's" were keen to gain a scalp and went into an early lead courtesy of a Ryan Foreman penalty.

West came back to force their way over the visitor's line only for referee Will Lacey to award one of those new fangled goal-line dropouts.

Not to be thwarted the West backs put together a decent move, which saw Heckles time his pass to allow Will Hilditch a run-in at the corner (above) with Heron's conversion wide.

Dropped balls were the order of the day for both sides, as were offences at the breakdown, sprinkled wth a fair share of high, but not malicious, tackles. 

West had the better of the territory but struggled to put phases together and were made to pay with a sucker punch. A quick pass out left saw promising Hartlepool teenage fly half Ben Clarke intercept and sprint 45 metres to the line, with a desperate Matt Siddle in forlorn pursuit. 

The kick was wide and Foreman missed another penalty before West should have regained the lead. Ryan Painter and Siddle combined well and were only stopped as Hartlepool conceded a penalty on their own line. West had been having the better of the scrums and went for a five-metre effort only to be penalised for pushing too early. Such is the pressure of a derby game in front of a big crowd.

Worse was to come as Hartlepool took a quick line-out on the Catcote Road touchline, which saw them awarded a penalty for a high tackle  just inside the West half. The decision was disputed too strongly,  and Foreman took the gift of the extra ten metres to give his side an 11-5 lead at the break.

That score, plus the half-time team talk, had the desired effect and a much more energised home team kicked off towards the clubhouse. Unfortunately, No 8 Jay Corbett soon departed after injuring his knee, but the momentum continued to grow and West regained the lead on the 50th minute.

Another break from the forwards through the midfield saw Alex Barker on a charge with his skipper on his inside. As he entered the 22 the flanker thought it wise to gave Painter the chance to run in, however the pass bounced off the head of a Hartlepool defender and  back into Barker's path. He gratefully continued his run to the line with Heron converting.  A bit of luck on a day whe there wasn't much of it around.

West continued to have slightly the better of things. A break up the left by Siddle saw the Hartlepool defence in all  kinds of trouble as the ball was kicked over the goal line. Eventually forcing full back Lewis Wilson to hack into touch.

That all led to another penalty and a five metre scrum for West, which saw Chris Atkins go for the line only for his effort to be ruled out as Hartlepool sruggled to get their  hands under the ball..

Chris then took a ten minute rest. Both he and opposing second row Shane Ivey seeing yellow for a minor altercation at the breakdown. The penalty was awarded to West taking play into the Hartlepool 22 where the visitors failed to make much ground with a clearance kick. West seized on the opportunity with a catch and drive with Isaac Robinson going over. Sam Heron's kick was true to give his side an important eight point lead.

The home side were now looking for the bonus point try and the cause was helped as Hartlepool again went down to 14 - this time  for a high tackle on Heckles. The best chance coming from another close range scrum but once again the pack was judged to have pushed too early.

Rovers at the New Friarage next week. Calmer heads required.

West: Sam Heron, Lewis Scott, Davy Heckles, Ollie Connolly, Will Hilditch, Matt Siddle, Ryan Painter (capt), Michael Hogan, Aidan Jackson-Smith, Jack Angus, Will Corbett, Jake Linighan, Isaac Robinson, Alex Barker, Jay Corbett.

Reps: (all used): Adam Coates, Adam Hutchinson, Chris Atkins.

Tries: Hilditch, Barker, Robinson.

Cons; Heron (2).

Hartlepool: Lewis Wilson, Joe Scarborough, David Chester, Ryan Foreman, Connor Morris, Ben Clarke, Taz Pelser, Martyn Howard, Adam Wiliamson, John Osborne, Harry Watts, Shane Ivey, Tom Campbell, Jonathan Carney (capt), Tom Johnson.

Reps (all used): Keagan Thomnas, Stephen Cole, Kieran Watson.

Tries: Clarke.

Pens: Foreman (3)

Referee: Will Lacey (Durham Society).