We were grateful for the unexpected reappearance of Alex Ainsley, freed from his international cycling commitments for his first game of the season. His presence meant West at least had the luxury of a sub.
West took early command of the game, with tries from Andrew Robson and Stephen Short in the first five minutes, Tom Dixon converting one. The complacency that sometimes accompanies early dominance then allowed Sunderland back into the game, and they ran in two tries to take a 14-12 lead. West responded to this wake-up call well, and by half time had run in a further four tries (three from Short and one from Robson). Conversions from Dixon and Chris Lambert gave West a 36-14 half-time lead.
The second half continued in the same vein, with further tries from Lambert, Jon Norris and Gavin Robinson. Conversions from Lambert and Robinson gave a final scoreline of 55-14.
Next week, Harrogate at home in the Yorkshire League, with a 12.00 kick-off.
Sunderland U 17's 14 West U 17's 55
By Jon Dewhirst - December 6 2004
West progressed to the next round of the County Cup with a comfortable victory at Ashbrooke .. despite having Peter Dewhirst, Arun Gupta and Michael Murray injured, and Luke Austin, Aaron Myers and Michael Young unavailable.