It was a case of déjà vu at Station Road as once again West failed to perform at the Norton ground. This time though there were chances to take the game in the final quarter, but West lacked any finishing ability and truth be told did not deserve to come away with a win or draw.

Something needs to be corrected quickly if West are to rescue this season as far too often silly rugby costs them dear. At crucial times and in crucial areas the discipline was terrible, time and again allowing the boot of Jeremy Good an easy clearance for Stockton. Conversely West struggled to kick the ball all afternoon, contributing to them spending large parts of it in their own half. Yes there is a long injury list, but the players in the side are more than capable of winning these games but maybe getting a few players fit again will provide the kick-start needed.

The wet conditions didn’t help things and the game was hardly an advert for exciting rugby. Good had opened the scoring with a simple penalty on 4 minutes and Davy Tighe failed to level things shortly afterwards. The one West try scoring opportunity came after 12 minutes with Paul Rudd providing the initial burst, followed up by Peter Hodgson and Tinker Williamson who was tacked just short and when Stockton killed the ball Tighe levelled the scores with a shot at goal.

That finished the scoring for the first half and West barely entered the Stockton half for the remaining half hour. That said the hosts weren’t creating many clear scoring opportunities and the only thing dominating the game was the referee’s whistle. With the vast majority of the decisions going West’s way there were plenty of opportunities for a big clearance but it never came.

The second period started with two, again fairly simple, penalties from Good inside 6 minutes and Stockton started far the brighter at one point squandering a 3 or 4 man overlap when a try would have almost certainly killed the game off. Just when it looked like West would fizzle out and not even look like getting back into the game Tighe, switched to scrum half when Tinker retired injured, made a typical break from a scrum on half way. A simple pass inside to Jon Boatman left a clear run to the line but a desperate tackle came in and he was held up a metre short. When a penalty was awarded under the posts Tighe opted for the easy points and with just under 20 minutes to go there was ample time for more scoring.

West continued to pressurise the Stockton line and the best opportunity came when a cross-field kick from replacement Phil Wallis was collected by Darren Thomas who, in combination with James Masshedar, almost reached the line. But then in a typical ‘West’ moment the ‘try-line fever’ hit and two or three phases were wasted, eventually allowing Stockton to clear.

Good missed a speculative shot at goal with a couple of minutes to go but by that time West’s chance had gone. Another away game blown but this time, unlike at Penrith, to come away with nothing would have been harsh on Stockton. As far as the first team go its starting to look worrying for the season ahead, and with a tricky cup tie at Huddersfield next week followed by Beverley at home and Durham City away things aren’t going to get any easier.

Stockton: Cowell, Jeffrey, Thornton, P Armstrong, T Armstrong, Good, Jenkins, Sill, Muirhead, Brown, Etherington, Skirving, Moulder, Brown, Wildridge
Subs: Delmar, Bare, Hardy

Pens: Good 3

West: Masshedar, Thomas, Edwards, Hodgson, Weegram, Tighe, Williamson (Wallis), Cholmondeley (Henderson), Carr, Robinson, Rudd, Davies, D Boatman, Tones, J Boatman
Sub not used: Garside

Pens: Tighe 2

Referee: P Forsythe (Northumberland)
[With a penalty count of 18-10 to West there could be questions asked about why a yellow card was not used, especially when many of the infringements where for the same offences. Still, hardly something West could blame the defeat on]


Other scores:
ALNWICK 24 V 40 MORPETH
BEVERLEY 6 V 0 SHEFFIELD
DURHAM CITY 37 V 5 PERCY PARK
PENRITH 37 V 10 HARTLEPOOL ROVERS
SANDAL 8 V 24 DRIFFIELD