West had Tom Dixon still injured, and Rob Bellerby, Alex Ainsley, Gareth Eddy and Michael Young  unavailable.

The draw saw West pooled with Gateshead Fell, Guisborough, Percy Park and Westoe. The first game against Gateshead produced a 19-3 victory, with tries for Luke Austin, Andy Robson and Peter Dewhirst, and two conversions from Gavin Robinson. A 10-0 win over Guisborough followed, with a try from Tom Barker, and a conversion and penalty from Robinson. Westoe were defeated by a Stephen Short try, but the game with Percy Park was lost, 0-3, leaving West with the more difficult semi-final against Gosforth, while Percy Park played Sunderland (defeated 55-14 by West earlier in the season).

Gosforth dominated the first seven minute half, but West’s defence was strong, and laid a platform for the resurgence in the second half. The key passage came after twelve minutes, when quick ball gave inside centre Peter Dewhirst the opportunity to make a strong break through the Gosforth lines. His pass to winger Chris Lambert saw the latter in for the winning try.

Apart from the disappointment of the Percy Park game, this was another good performance by West. No tries were conceded, and they deservedly qualified as NE & Cumbria representatives alongside Percy Park. Gosforth and Sunderland went through to the National Plate. Usually backs get the glory in these reports, as they tend to score the tries, but credit must also be paid to the pack who worked hard to provude the ball in every match – Chris Forrest, Jonathan Norris, John Greenwell, Arun Gupta, Andy Robson, Sean Cairns, Tom Barker, Ben Richardson, Aaron Myers and Phil Close.