The last time West scored six tries in a league match was.....a long time ago!! Things finally going right in an area we have struggled for quite some time. Scoring chances were taken and if you add the missed kicks to the total it would have been an even more impressive victory.

Strong defence has been a feature this season and that continued but for once the attacking play was well executed and the symptoms of try-line fever were nowhere to be seen. The forwards can take a huge amount of credit for providing the platform for the win. From the off they took the game to the Morpeth pack and made sure there was finally some decent, quick ball to use in attack.

If the video from this game finds its way to Dave Stubbs he'll see plenty of evidence of players playing for their places. Whatever is being said in the dressing room at the moment is clearly having the desired effect and we can only hope the honeymoon period continues until the new coaching team are in place.

It hadn't started too well for West when Tim Sawyer gifted an early penalty chance to the accurate Matthew Jinks who made no mistake to give Morpeth the early lead. The response, however, was immediate. Alert play from Darren Thomas saw him leave his wing to make the extra man on the short side and he shrugged off a tackle to go in following a pass from Davy Tighe.

Lively winger Nick Harper had some early success running back some poor West open play kicking and certainly kicking aimlessly down the throat of Fijian fullback known only by his nickname 'Wacko' should not have been in the hosts game plan.
Jinks capitalised on another Sawyer indiscretion to put Morpeth back in front after 16 minutes but Tighe missed a chance to respond after good work from James Masshedar earned a penalty in a very kickable position. West didn't let up though, the forwards were everywhere hitting the rucks hard and creating regular turnover ball. Having gained a good attacking position the next try came from a bit of individual brilliance from Martin Todd. A series of errors from a lineout had West back-pedalling from the 22 all the way inside their own half. Rather than looking for a kick an alert Tighe saw Martin Todd racing round to support him and fed him the ball in stride. The winger burst onto the ball and rounded 3 or 4 defenders but was tackled just short of the line. Fortunately Allan Milne was on hand to receive the ball and dive in at the corner.

While West were dominating in most areas Morpeth were far from out of the game and Jinks made amends for an easy penalty miss on 32 minutes with another successful shot just two minutes later. Jinks also added a drop goal just as 40 minutes came up on the watch to give Morpeth the lead once again and leave West wondering how, after being on top for such long periods were behind approaching half time. Fortunately for West there was time for another score, Tighe scoring a typically opportunistic try 2 minutes into injury time. Referee Steve Havery awarded a penalty inside the 22 and the ever alert scrum half took a quick tap and weaved through a crowd of players and dive in for the third West try of the afternoon and crucially regain the lead at the break. There was no improvement in the goal kicking though as the fourth kick of the game drifted wide, this time from the boot of Phil Wallis.

A stirring half time team talk from Stu Bennett seemed to be just what West needed as they came out for the second half in roaring form. The Morpeth defence was creaking and starting to concede penalties. Captain David Dickenson was despatched to the sin-bin for a repeat offence and shortly afterwards another storming maul allowed temporary player-coach Brett Cullinane to go in for another try. Wallis made the conversion and at 22-12 West were looking like heading for a crucial victory. Wallis nudged his side closer to that achievement on the hour with a penalty but failed with a further attempt on 69 minutes.

Morpeth were struggling for territory but West still needed another score to make the game absolutely safe. It finally came on 72 minutes when Thomas got his second try of the day in slightly fortuitous circumstances. It was Morpeth who looked like mounting a dangerous attack but a pass from Jinks out wide went loose and Thomas collected the loose ball and raced in from half way to score under the posts, which was certainly apprecited by Wallis who added the simple conversion to put the game beyond doubt at 32-12.

An entertaining afternoons rugby was not finished there, West added a sixth try from Carl Robinson, popping up on the wing to finish off an overlap and Morpeth managed a consolation score in injury time through Harper with Dickenson adding the conversion in place of the injured Jinks.

It was certainly an encouraging performance and as many commented afterwards the best seen from West in quite some time, certainly this season. At last some of the potential seen in patches was carried on through the whole game and the forwards showed how they can control a game and set up a platform from which we can score tries and win games! However, as good a performance this was the job is far from done. Plenty of times in the past there has been a great home win one week only to be followed by a dismal one on the road seven days later. Saturday at Percy Park will be the time to put that one right and try and develop some consistency game to game.

West: Masshedar, Thomas, Hodgson, Milne, Todd, Wallis, Tighe, Cholmondeley, Cullinane, Robinson, Rudd, Davies, D Boatman (Tones), J Boatman, Sawyer

Tries: Thomas 2, Milne, Tighe, Cullinane, Robinson
Con: Wallis 2
Pen: Wallis

Morpeth: Wacko, Harper, Cunningham, Hills, Cole, Jinks, Jackson, Ramsey, Thornton, Dickenson, Forsythe, Hutton, Hall, Younger, Ludford
Reps: Manley, Pringle, Watson

Referee: Steve Havery (Durham Society)
[Excellent game, a couple of wild forward passes missed aside. Was consistent to both sides and was responsible for making sure both sides were allowed quick ball with which to play. Made a difference having an excellent official in the middle, wish we saw more of him in this league.]