Treble treat for Jones in Horden rout

Craig Jones scored a hattrick as Horden & Peterlee regained fourth place in Durham Northumberland One with a 63-24 caning of Gosforth on Saturday.

Horden moved three points above Consett after they lost at Middlesbrough.

It was a good afternoon’s work for the colliery outfit at Eden Lane, where they were clinical in attack.

Horden shrugged off a last-minute reshuffle after Craig Oliver was injured in the warm-up, with Neil Hartley restored at scrumhalf, with Luke Watson switching to centre.

Winger Craig Jones was the star of the show, running in three of the 10 home tries. The rest of the tries were spread around the side with Andrew King, Andrew White, Danny Groves, Hartley, Conor Jones and Jack McCAllum touching down with H&P also awarded a penalty try.

Craig Jones ended t on 28 points after adding five conversions and a penalty.

Credit to Gosforth for battling all the way into the second half and were rewarded with a bonus point.

Groves was dangerous with the ball in hand for the the home side, making some big carries.

Head coach Glenn Bowman said: “We were really dominant, especially in the first half.

“It was a very good team performance, both forwards and backs contributing with the points.

“We scored 60-plus points but were still a little disappointed at the end because we’d conceded a couple of soft tries and missed one or two opportunities.”

Seaham lost 41-17 at Chester-le-Street in Division Three.