Ashbrooke U14s rally to seal County Cup semi spot
Sunderland Under-14s booked their place into the Durham County Cup semifinal in style after clinching a fantastic 40-24 victory away to Stockton.
Josh Jobling notched a brace, while Vincent Hessel also touched down for a try to secure their fourth win from their last five games.
However, it was Stockton who raced into a 12-0 lead, with individual errors costing the visitors.
Sunderland produced an immediate response to cut the arrears when Adam Willams bundled over the line, followed by Zak Kennedy.
Chris Rochelle slotted one conversion to bring the game level just before half time.
The visitors upped the pressure in the second half, led by Jai Swalwell, Jack Howell and Alex Ryan.
Jobling sealed a quick-fire double, breaking through the heart of Stockton’s defence to extend Sunderland’s lead.
As the clock wound down, Hessel finished off a fine move, but Stockton then added two consolation tries.
The referee awarded the Ashbrooke youngsters a penalty try and it was Rochelle who completed the scoring.
Sunderland now travel to West Hartlepool for the semifinal on February 11.
Sunderland Under-15s ground out a hard fought 15-7 victory away at Bishop Auckland in their first round Durham County Cup match.
The Sunderland lads gave a great defensive display on their own goal line under huge pressure and managed to keep Bishop out before countering with two tries, from Chris Andrews and Oliver Beattie for a 10-0 halftime lead.
From the restart, Sunderland attacked again and Beattie claimed his own kick ahead to touch down for another try which proved decisive.
A late converted try from Bishop was not enough for them to get them back into the game.
Three of the squad came through the recent Newcastle Falcons County selection festival to be named in Durham County’s Under-15s training squad.
Captain Jacob Feeney, Joe Cowie and Adam Stormont have gone on to the final County squad session at Darlington next week, before games in Cumbria and Northumberland later in the season.