There’s a yellow weather warning for rain on Saturday afternoon,  but referee Yannick Debil can take some comfort in the fact it won’t be a bitterly cold afternoon. The other occasion he officiated at Brinkburn was last December,  when he had to abandon the game against Carlisle as there was a very real risk of hypothermia. Fortunately for West, the decision came after the hour mark so the 24-10 score stood.

Sunderland will arrive having emulated West’s achievement a couple of seasons ago in going unbeaten in Durham and Northumberland One. They will also be more than happy with their start - having lost narrowly at Morpeth before beating Consett 50-19 at Ashbrooke last week.

The West faithful can also be happy with their side’s opening games. The fixtures threw up two difficult first games against the sides hotly tipped for promotion. Achieving a six point haul against Percy Park and Northern is a more than decent return.

Some of the players who featured in those games have other commitments this week but, as ever, there are others returning. Notably new Argentinian flanker Mauro "Chino" Rocha who impressed in pre-season before injuring his ribs in the warm-up game against City.

Chino comes into the back row alongside skipper Chris Atkins and Alex Barker. They’ll pack down behind a new second row with Elliott Reed, who joined from Rovers in the summer, alongside Ollie Webster - a slimline version of the second row who played almost every game in the 2023-24 season.

There’s fewer changes in the backs with Lewis Scott taking a turn to start this week following his last minute bonus point try last week. Jacob Wood providing cover on the bench, where there’s also a welcome return for Will Hilditch. NIneteen year old prop Matty Ward gets his reward for some impressive displays to provide front row cover.

Despite those absences there was a big turn-out at training this week with three strong squads selected. Max Tennant, last season's first team top-try scorer, is  back in action, and he starts for the Stags outside a powerful looking centre partnership in Kieran Scollay and Owen Westhorp.

The versatile James Tyers will be at prop for the Stags as he limbers up for his debut as the Saturday night "turn" in the Stag Bar. Kick off for that one is 7.00.

The Bucks got their CaNDY league season off to a great start at Peterlee & Horden last week and will be looking to use home advantage to build on those five  points. Cameron Mould is in the squad after his return from BBOB,  together with a further 26 players who have all put themselves up for selection including a lot of familar names including Stu Waites and Michael Hogan. Graham Frankland also has his name down after promising that, despite being in his seventh decade, he still wants a ten-minute run-out sometime this season. He obviously hasn't seen this week's weather forecast.

 '