SUNDERLAND BOOSTED BY RETURNING PLAYERS
ASHBROOKE SIDES WILL BE STRONGER AS SQUADS GET BACK TO FULL STRENGTH
Sunderland RFC chairman Paul Geehan hailed the return of key players to the First XV squad for the visit of Whitley Bay Rockcliff to Ashbrooke.
He said: “We are looking forward to the game. More or less everyone is back from injury, illness or unavailibilty.
“The changes we make will also make the second team stronger.”
The team has lost two in a row in Durham and Northumberland Division Two, with one bonus point to their name.
The seconds travel to Hougton Boars, while the Women’s XV, The Flames, have a tough away trip to Birkenhead on Sunday.
Sunderland Under-14s edged a 15-14 win against West Hartlepool.
The visitors scored within a minute of the kick-off as their centre ploughed upfield to touch down under the posts.
Captain Josh Jobling capitalised on a forward drive led by second rows Jonathan James and Camron Sherriff, to score a try in the right corner.
West hit back after Sunderland spilled the ball in midfield on the visitors’ line, to race the length of the field to score under the posts. Rampaging full back Vincent Hessell crashed through the West defence to pull back the score and as half-time approached, Sunderland were able to make changes in key areas. An outstanding defence, spearheaded by flanker Jai Swalwell,fly-halfJamesMarshall and Hessell stemmed West, allowing centre Zak Kennedy to launch a run, scoring in the corner to take the Ashbrooke youngsters into the lead.
Sunderland continued to turn the screw in the forwards, number 8 Adam Williams and open side flanker Russell Chapman-Smith dominating and despite further opportunities to score, they held onto the lead for the win.
Sunderland’s Under-13s travelled to Horden to face a team with depleted numbers, using the game as a training exercise, with some players joining the Horden team to even out the sides.
The game was split into two periods of 15 minutes and Sunderland ran out 7025 winners, with tries coming from Kai Haikney, Will Taylor, Dylan Pool, Jonathan Robins, Alexander Lamb and Ben Fogg.