On the main pitch  the first team ran in five tries of their own to earn a bonus point,  but never looked likely to take any more.

Undeterred by their inferiority in the scrum  Consett concentrated on their strengths. They were determined in defence and, once play became broken,  they  were quick to launch their speedy backs who invariably had South African accents in support  calling for the pass.  

They looked happier running from their own 22,  but went ahead in the first few minutes through a conventional penalty kick to the corner and a catch and drive,  finished off by hooker Jack Yarrall and converted by  Asher Brandon-Wood.

Five minutes later West got their first glimpse of how dangerous Consett were  on the counter attack.  An over ambitious pass to Sam Knight saw the winger unable to take clean ball,  allowing opposite number Reece Plumtree to gather and race  home to give his side a 14 point lead.

West showed what they could down with some great handling taking them into the  Consett 22 for the first time. However, with his dad over from South Africa for a fortnight to watch him,  outside centre Kevan Slow ripped the ball on his own 22 and raced to the posts to  outpace Max Tennant and Sam Knight. Not many do that.

With less than 20 minutes on the clock Consett then achieved their try bonus point with a try which relied  on more conventional play. A speedy attack and great handling up the left saw the West defence stretched as the ball was efficiently moved across field  for full back Brandon-Wood to score in  the right corner.

At 26-0 West were facing a humiliation  on their own pitch,  and it got worse before it got  better. Consett’s fifth try coming again from Asher-Wood whose neat sidestep took him over after the  ball was moved wide from a line-out.

West’s heads did not go down all afternoon and they finally got their reward after two quick yellow cards for Consett. Scrum half Lewis Bowman was the first to go after a no-arms tackle on Alex Barker as West attacked on the 22. That was closely followed by a yellow for hooker Yarrall for a high tackle on  Tennant as the West winger burst into the visiting  22.

West were opting for  scrums as the penalty count against the visitors mounted,   and this one was a no-brainer against 13 men with skipper Chris Atkins getting  his side’s  first try of the afternoon on the half-hour mark.

Any hopes that West could take further  advantage of the numerical disadvantage were quickly extinguished with inside centre Adam Pearson finishing smartly to take the score to 5-40.

However, there was time for Tennant to reduce the arrears with  another scrum from a penalty in the Consett 22 seeing Atkins pick up to feed Roxby who timed his pass to send the winger in at the corner (above) with Jobe Roxby landing an excellent conversion.

Any hopes West supporters had that this would be a game of two halves were quickly dispelled from the restart. The ball was lost deep in the Consett half with  the visitors stampeding up the left wing with simple passing drawing the defence and sending fly-half Ish Perkins over to set up an easy conversion.

Opposite number Roxby then had a chance to set up a West break. He intercepted in  his own half evading several tackles as he broke up the right wing . Unfortunately his side could not emulate Consett’s support play and he was eventually stopped.

It got worse as West again gave the ball away in the opposition half - Consett creating  a three man  overlap as they raced to the line for the easiest of scores for winger Plumtree.

Wes restored some pride with their third try which saw Tennant coming off his line to break through the defensive line, He found  Ollie Connolly also coming into the line  from fullback  to glide through the tackles to take the score to 19-52 (above) and give his side a chance of a try bonus point.

That point was eventually achieved,  but not before Consett had added to their total. The game had been getting a little fractious, mainly due to “discussions between the players over the size of the scoreline. So, when Consett were penalised in West’s 22,  Roxby’s pat on the back for the offending player saw the penalty reversed with the result that Perkins crossed for his second of the afternoon.

West were still fighting to get that consolation bonus point try. They looked to have got it when Man of the Match Atkins again broke from a scrum close to the line. Knight was in space out wide but he couldn’t hold Atkins’ backhand pass as went to touchdown.

Instead,  it was the visitors who once again attacked in numbers up the left wing. Patchcott made the ground and he had a number of options as play entered the 22 choosing second  row Kieran Jervis to take the pass and end his side’s scoring  for the afternoon.

With eight minutes left on the clock West  finally got their point  – replacement second row  Aaron Muir getting  his first try in league rugby as he finished off a catch and drive from yet another penalty kick to the corner (above).

That wasn’t the end of the drama as referee Yannick Derbil lost patience with the penalty count and gave Yarrall his second yellow of the afternoon and therefore a red , which was not the result the hooker wanted ahead of his return to South Africa in a couple of weeks’ time.

Skipper Chris Atkins had led from the front all afternoon. He fittingly ended the try scoring as the line-out catch and drive once again proved West’s best attacking weapon.

The result keeps West in seventh place -  still in contention  for one of the play-off places with the next three games  against teams below them in the table. First up are  Wigton who have yet to win a game.

West: Ollie Connolly, Sam Knight, Peter Youll, Kieran Scollay, Max Tennant, Jobe Roxby, Joe Cholmondeley, Andrew Rollins, Aidan Jackson-Smith, Adam Hutchinson , Elliott Reed, Charlie Kay, Alex Barker, Isaac Robinson, Chris Atkins (capt).

Reps (all used): Liam Pennick, Aaron Muir, Matt Siddle

Tries: Atkins (2), Tennant, Connolly, Muir.

Cons: Roxby (4)

Consett: Brandon Asher-Wood (capt), Ethan Renwick, Kevan Slow, Adam Pearson, Reece Plumtree, Ish Perkins, Lewis Bowman, Oli Smith, Jack Yarrall, Elijah Brooks-Bowen, George Brain, Kieran Jervis, Aaron Stephenson, Tom Weallens, Jack Beckwith.

Reps (all used): Ed Sanderson, Archie Fyfe, Dan Patchcott.

Tries: Yarrall, Plumtree (2), Slow, Asher-Wood (4), Pearson, Jervis.

Cons: Asher-Wood (7)

Yellow: Bowman. R

Red: Yarrall (2 yellows)

Referee: Yannick Debil (Northumberland).