It was the ultimate climax to a half of rugby that showed cynics that debies can produce some great play. Both sides ran the ball at each other and there could have been more tries at either end. West looked out of it when Rovers scored tries in quick succession midway through the half but the visitors wouldn't lie down and came back with two late scores to produce the dramatic conclusion.

The first half was typical of recent derbies. West had more of the ball early on with some good work on the short side by Tim Sawyer but twice referee Mike Hogdson whistled for holding on in midfield and having missed the first effort Chris Sainty made no mistake for Rovers with a simple penalty in front of the posts.
He doubled the lead shortly afterwards as a steady stream of penalties to the home side kept them on the front foot. West took another blow when Jon Boatman went off with a nasty shoulder injury and when Gareth Foreman touched down following a rolling maul plus a wide conversion from Sainty it was 13-0 and West were really looking up against it.

But back they came immediately. The visitors exploited some large blind sides wanting to make the most of speedster Chris Lambert. When Martin Todd nicely drew two defenders after a scrum and fed Lambert the 18 year-old beat his man and outpaced the covering defence to score in the corner. It was just the comeback West needed and Paul Moss went just short with the tough conversion.

West were now on their game and immediately came back at their rivals. The home defence was stretched to cover a break in the same corner Lambert had scored and when the ball eventually came back Moss delivered a perfect crossfield kick for Danny Weegram to collect and go in unopposed.

13-10 set the game up nicely for the second half as it was clear both teams could play if allowed to do so by an occasionally quick on the whistle official clearly not wanting too much competition for the ball that might boil over.

There had been a liuttle bit of niggle in the first half and lots of penalties and Mr Hodgson set about sorting that out early on in the second half. As West charged forward in the loose and with the rolling maul he sent Jonny Cushlow to the sin-bin for joining the maul from the side. The hooker was probably the unfortuante scapegoat for a lot of the first half penalties.

West pushed on against 14-men and looked unstoppable. Camped in the 22 Weegram looked to be in before losing the ball with the line at his mercy and then a Moss chip was intercepted and Andrew Lilley raced upfield. The wing come centre made it into the West half before his chip ahead found the touchline. This didn't seem to halt the West surge though and they were soon up to the line again with a weaving Davy Tighe run looking like it would bring the scrum-half a try but as he tried to pass to Lambert the ball went to ground and the chance was gone.

Those fans who'd seen the game last week against Penrith were starting to wonder if the old try-line fever was back but the score came just before the hour mark. West were awarded a penalty in the shadow of the posts and with this reporter and many others screming for the shot at goal Aaron Myers tapped and fed Anth Carr who crashed over under the posts. It was no more than West had deserved for a long period of pressure but the score remained at 15-13 as Darren Smith charged down Moss' conversion attempt from close range.

Rovers had looked a tiring bunch and, up to now, there had only been one team in the second period. But as West had in the first half they responded immediately to going behind. Some good work by the forwards in the loose saw them make ground into the 22 where Sawyer was penalised and also sent to the sin-bin. Sainty made no mistake with the penalty goal to give his side the lead and hope they could capatalise on a 10-minute man advantage.

Capatalise they certainly did. Having looked dead and buried they were now in their best form of the game. Gareth Foreman raced away down the left only to be tackled well by Chocky Davies but the ball was recycled and a big overlap was executed perfectly with Lewis Humble crossing for the try.

There seemed to be no stopping the home side and when they turned over West ball on midfield they broke down the right with another overlap and some great handling saw Sainty score to make it 26-15 and seemingly finish the game with a little over 10 minutes to play.

All credit to Rovers who had turned the half on its head but West had shown enough in the mid part of the match to know they could still mount a challenge and the game was definitely not up yet, especially when you consider the way recent derbies have finished.

Time seemed to be ticking away with lots of injuries and the referee certainly guilty of some quick whislting at the breakdown when the ball was available to play. West tried time after to time to break through the Rovers defence but it held strong. Finally with 80 minutes fast approching a simple draw and pass move from the backs got Weegram the space he needed to beat Humble and claim his second try. Moss was again unlucky with the kick leaving West needing a converted try with 5 minutes left on the officials watch.

As nails were bitten down West drove on. An astute Moss kick drove play deep into Rovers territory, looking for that one chance of glory. West needed the ball out wide to do the damage and after several scrums they eventually got the chance to move the ball there. Moss and Carl Robinson worked a nice wrap-around and gave Lambert half a chance. Not one to be denied he somehow found a way over in the corner to a faint cheer, most of the West faithful realising a touchline conversion was now needed for victory from a kicker whose current record was 0 from 4.

With no time left it was strange that the kick was delayed while some treatment was administered and it left Moss to contemplate the task ahead him with some supporting words from his captain Tighe. It had truly been a great half of rugby and it came down to the cruellest of climaxes where secretly both sides thought they already knew the outcome.

As he approached the ball and struck it well a faint cheer seemed to indicate the ball had a chance. The faint cheer became and eruption when the flags were raised and the ball dropped over the posts leaving Tighe and the rest of his players to create a victory pile on top of Moss. With some confusion as to the time left to play Glen Wise attempted to restart with the pile of players still on the 22 but the referee blew the whistle to finish the game, a harsh end for Rovers but an ectstatic one for everyone wearing green.

Hats off to both sets of players for 3 great derbies this season, with the quality of rugby on show today the best by far. It was a shame one side had to lose today but bring on next season when I for one can't wait to watch more games like this. Passion, tension and some great tries – what a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Rovers: Sainty, Humble, Lilley, Rutherford, B Cushlow, Cavanagh, Foreman, Stevens, J Cushlow, Wise, Power, Smith, Wallis, Kirton, White
Reps: Campbell, Watson, Hall

Tries: Foreman, Humble, Sainty
Con: Sainty
Pens: Sainty 3
Sinbin: Cushlow

West: Todd, Lambert, Edwards, Hodgson, Weegram, Moss, Tighe, Robinson, Sawyer, Carr, Rudd, Davies, D Boatman, Myers, J Boatman (Miller) (Norris (during sin-bin))

Tries: Lambert 2, Weegram 2, Carr
Con: Moss
Sinbin: Sawyer

Referee: Mike Hodgson [Durham Society]