West End miss out at Hebburn

Sunderland West End missed out in an entertaining TWR Bifolds Wearside League match away to fellow high-fliers Hebburn Town Reserves last night.

Hebburn’s 3-2 win took them top of the table, while West End stayed fifth.

Hebburn opened the scoring in the 11th minute, when Nathan Sinclair controlled the ball and smashed it high into the net.

The lead was doubled on 61 minutes 2-0 after 61 minutes, when Daley Clarke headed in following a corner.

West End pulled a goal back, nine minutes later, with Mark Robinson on target.

They pushed for an equaliser, but Jamie Lawson made it 3-1 to Hebburn with five minutes left .

West End’s efforts brought a late Anthony Ross strike, but the Tynesiders held on to secure all three points.

Cleator Moor will regain top spot if they beat fellow Cumbrians Windscale tonight, while Boldon CA, in fourth, host Richmond Town (7.30pm kick-off ).

Tom Lawrence insists Wales will not be fazed by the loss of talisman Gareth Bale for their final two 2018 World Cup qualifiers with a calf problem.

Wales need to beat Georgia (Friday) and Ireland (Monday) to at least make next month’s playoffs.

Lawrence said: “We’ve been without him before and will deal with it again.

“We’ve got a strong squad and whoever comes in needs to step and do a job. We’ve got a good group and they will want to put a shift in.”