Winlaton Vulcans RFC

Winlaton entertained Sunderland to compete for a final place in the Durham Junior Cup against neighbour's Ryton who won their away tie against Bishop Auckland 20-10.

The Ashbrooke men put Winlaton under immediate pressure and Winger Goforth who was a thorn in Winlaton's side all game, was stopped just short of the line, the ball was recycled quickly and centre Graham crossed for the first try of the match.

Minutes later Goforth again made another break and off loaded to captain Stormont who fed Britton, the ball was set up again and the referee indicated a penalty to Sunderland following a dubious late tackle but the visitors made best use of the advantage available and again the ball was spread wide and winger Jordan touched down in the corner.

Winlaton came back into the game with about 20 minutes of the first half remaining and the forwards performed well enough to upset the visitig Sunderland pack who were looking 2nd best in the set pieces by now but were always a threat in loose play.

Winlaton were awarded a string of penalties during this period and with full back Kevin Alison using the wind well, the game was completely changed with him kicking four successful attempts on goal.

Against the run of play, Winlaton found themselves 12-10 in the lead.

However Sunderlands response was swift as Gofoth collected a loose ball and kicked the ball deep into the Vulcans half where it was fumbled allowing Goforth to gather the ball touching down in the corner for an unconverted try 12-15.

A few minutes later,Winlaton went down to 14 men for the rest of the game when their centre was sent off for violent behaviour even though the incident wasn't seen by the referee and was obviously pressured by the visiting Sunderland crowd.

Sunderland scrum half Tarn kicked the resultant penalty and Sunderland led 18-12 at half time.

In the second half, Winlaton rarely threatened the Sunderland line and spent most of this half defending, quite well at times with Macleod, Albassam, and Mitchell the pick of the team.

Sunderland's Graham scored his second try of the day after some strong forward work and with Tarn kicking the conversion a 25-12 lead was established.

Sunderland's McLennan created and scored the next try with a superb individual break which included him rounding three would-be Winlaton defenders to give Sunderland a final 30-12 deserved victory.

Winlaton's cup hopes for a another season have been stopped by Sunderland once again but Winlaton could have little to complain about as Sunderland were the better team and will go into the final as favourites.