West did play their part in the last day drama, and did go into a 14-10 lead in the first half, but a wholly committed and  powerful Middlesbrough squad showed what is needed to achieve promotion from level 6.

In a frenetic start the visitors went ahead with a penalty after ten minutes,  but West bounced straight back with a penalty kick to the corner - Nick Bennions able to stetch out to touchdown (above) with Matt Siddle adding the extras.

Three minutes later Boro were back in front with prop Josh Lynas, crossing from a tap penalty, to set up an easy conversion.

Another penalty for West saw them regain the lead. Again the kick to the left corner set up the drive for the line with Jay Corbett, standing in for the unavailable Chris Atkins, forcing his way over to give his side a four point advantage.

Sadly for West, and Northern, that was the end of the tit-for-tat scoring.

Will Hilditch was off to the bin after he fumbled an interception on the West 22, while he was off the visitors scored two tries. The first from close range from No 8 Ollie Hodgson  and the second from winger Brendan Hill who stormed his way up the left wing -  brushing aside several tackles as he made his way to the line to take the score to 14-24.

Middlesbrough’s try bonus point wasn’t long in coming  - again they were able to force their way over fthrough Conner Foley from a scrum to give themselves a 14-31 lead at the break.

With Ollie Connolly off with a shoulder injury, West were still regrouping as the visitors secured the game with two early second half scores.

Scrum half  Foley was quick to react and go over from a scrum and, as West tried to immediately counter,  a kick up the right wing from Siddle fell kindly to full back Matthew Marsay. He saw a gap in front of him and raced home from the halfway.

The conversion took the score to an unassailable 14-45 scoreline. However with a spy in the crowd at Consett,  Boro knew they had to keep on  scoring - prop Mtt Helm from close range.

West had their best spell of the second half with Hilditch just putting a foot in touch ss he went for the corner,  followed by the West forwards being held up as they forced their way over the line.

The inevitable happened as Boro were finally able to clear the danger with a kick which was taken by replacement winger Lewis Scott. He looked to send Hilditch clear with a pass out of the hack of his hand only to see it picked up by Brendan Hill who tore down the left wing. The winger looked like he was going all the way but a tremendous race back and tackle from Hilditch stopped him in his tracks. However, Boro had more players in support and they were able to force their way to the line with hooker Joe Sawdon touching down. Brendan Hill’s goalkicking was a major factor in earning his side their promotion and he took the score to 14-59.

West continued to battle and were judged to have again been held up after a catch and drive.

Instead, Boro found space down the left wing with Hill scoring but he was just wide  with his conversion. Those two points weren’t needed as the news came through from Consett to cue the celebrations from the Middlesbrough supporters in the big crowd.

As a curtain raiser the  Bucks had taken on a Middlesbrough third team bolstered by the late cry-off for their seconds. A West side led by Liam Bailey,  and with Stu Waites in fine form at fly-half, going down 37-19. Unfortunately, Jonny Boatman suffered a badly broken nose after colliding with one of his own players and we wish him a speedy recovery and a return to his good looks.

West: Ben Reed, Will Hilditch, Peter Youll, Ollie Connolly, Max Tennant, Matt Siddle, Matt Baggs, Liam Pennick, Andrew Rollins (capt), Adam Hutchinson, Jake Linighan , Nick Bennions, Charlie Kay, Isaac Robinson, Jay Corbett.

Reps (all used): Keiran Scollay, Aidan Jackson-Smith, Lewis Scott.

Tries: Bennions, Corbett.

Cons: Siddle (2)

Yellow: Hilditch.

Boro: Matthew Marsay, Rhys Kilbride, Jack McPhillips (capt), Peter Homan, Brendan Hill, Steve Jones, Conner Foley, Matthew Helm, Joe Sawdon, Josh Lynas, Adam Marron, Will Magowan, Ali Lang, Rohan Brown, Ollie Hodgson.

Reps (all used): Marcus Lang, Myles Colvin, Harry Bryce.

Tries: Lynas, Hodgson, Hill (2), Foley (2), Marsay, Helm, Sawdon.

Cons: Hill (8)

Pen: Hill

 Referee: Pearse Ferguson (Northumberland)