Ryan’s treble eases Sunderland to victory
Sunderland bettered their last haul of home tries by one, to run in nine against a depleted Sedgefield, who responded with four of their own.
Leon Ryan capped a fine performance when bagging a well-deserved hat-trick.
Ryan opened up on four minutes, scoring out wide after the pack worked a short lineout before the ball was spun out through hands to find the galloping full-back still with a little to do, but with enough gas to get through the tackle and score the try.
Marc Edmundson scored a delightful individual effort, taking the ball from a scrum inside his own half he sent a chip over the advancing defence to gather it then score near the posts.
Slack defending saw Sedgefield come back into game on 18 minutes, but minutes later, Ryan released Jason Burke and with deft movement beat the defender to burst past him to score.
Ryan’s second try was a carbon copy of his first, the pack winning good lineout ball on left wing, then spinning it out through the backs for Ryan to pick a line and score out wide on right wing.
Burke added his second in the dying seconds of the half. The pack securing the ball at set piece then working it through hands to present Burke with half a chance which he gleefully accepted.
Sunderland’s backs created good opportunities and alternative decisions could have put Aarron Stephenson onto the ball in the danger zone, but the bustling centre had to be content with a yellow card for a high tackle and absorbing Sedgefield’s big ball carriers as they bashed the ball up field.
Sedgefield looked to carry the ball through their centres and proved to be a handful in opening exchanges.
Sedgefield had to reshuffle their pack at half time. Andy Wordsworth picked a line to support Luke Victory, who found him with a nice offload for Wordsworth to crash in to score under posts.
Fletcher Jackson stood out in an action packed half, with the young back popping up all over the pitch.
Recycling the ball well enabled Sunderland’s youngest Edmundson (Dean) to join his brother on the scoresheet, after showing his devastating pace and agility to weave through and around Sedgefield to score.
Sedgefield pulled a try back after pressurising Sunderland’s line to work a gap and drive the ball over.
Joe Arrowsmith made a break and released Ryan, whose run ended wide right to score in the corner.
Sedgefield pressed and scored their fourth to earn a bonus-point.
After receiving minor treatment to stem a bloody nose, Stevenson ended the game on a high when he showed pace and power to run the long way around advancing defenders to score the final try of the day.
Sunderland’s victory helped close the points gap for third position as Hartlepool suffered a defeat.
Sunderland now prepare for an away trip to Darlington next weekend.