There hadn't been much promise at the start of the game. Westoe arrived on a run of form and both centres crashed over in the first ten minutes to set us with a mountain to climb.

But with Brett Cullinane back in the front row, and Mark Cholmondeley looking happier at loosehead, our scrummaging finally came together and we held our own against Richard Arnold's chanting Westoe pack. [I think it was chanting they were doing at the breakdown - either that or there's an outbreak of whooping cough in South Shields.]

With the wind at the backs Westoe made the most of the conditions. Winger and West message board regular Paul Hagan kicked superby all afternoon. He put the visitors further ahead with a 37 minute penalty before flanker Glen Walton finished off a maul in the corner right on half time to make it a sad looking 24-0 at the break.

But neither Tim Sawyer nor Davy Tighe were prepared to to buckle under. They led from the front as we finally found some confidence. But that only came after hooker Nigel Douglas had benefited from a bevy of missed tackles to extend the lead to 31-0.

We got our first score on 52 minutes when top scorer Sawyer was the man to be driven over. His shoulder p[opped out andthe back in again in the process and he was eventually replaced by Will Richardson.

The try was the boost we needed and, with Ryan Phillips giving us the running that Carlo Robinson used to provide, we had Westoe on the back foot for long periods. Their defence is very sharp and in your face and often right on the edge. So it was no surprise when Michael Holland received a ten minute break from the activities. While he was off Mark Cholmondeley picked up and drove over from three metres out to make it 31-14.

We kept up the pressure and Westoe conceded a whole string of penalties in their 22. Our line-out was working well again, but we couldn't add to the score even though Glen Walton was also sin-binned for persistent infringement.

As the pressure mounted Anth Carr was also sin bunned. The replacement was just one of 29 players involved in a handbag extravaganza on the visiting 22 which kicked off with a high tackle as we tried to whip the ball down the line.

Westoe will be up there at the end of the season. They have good quality backs, and a hard working pack, but our performance in the second half will give us heart as we prepare for the Rovers game in two weeks time.

West: Martin Todd, Dan Abrahams, Peter Hodgson, Darren Thomas, Andrew Hare, Phil Wallis, Davy Tighe, Mark Cholmondeley, Brett Cullinane, Ryan Phillips, Phil Henderson, Carl Miller, Jon Boatman, Henry Tones, Tim Sawyer.

Reps from: John Painter, Anth Carr, Stuart Bennett, Phil Gilbraith, Will Richardson.

Westoe: Craig Stephenson, Paul Hagan, Kevin Wilson, Graham Haswell, Mark Olugbode, Dave Haswell, Chris Jackson, Gareth Nesbit [capt], Nigel Douglas,Raymie Elliott, Michael Holland, Paul Bird, Glen Walton, Dave Bowyer, Richard Arnold.

Reps: Jella Shabilla, Graeme Smith, Jimmy Thompson.