County Cup Success

After a largely successful season, Sunderland turned out on a wet and rainy day in Ryton for one last dance. From the sound of the whistle at kick-off to the final blow at full time, the rain battered down at Ryton, this favoured Rytons style of rugby but certainly did not put a damper on Sunderland's ability and definitely didn't deter the supporters from making the trip up the A1 - we estimate roughly 200 supporters made the trip for Sunderland. Supporters were not left short of action and excitement with a tough game and a good show of strength from both teams.

From kick-off Ryton were on the attack in our 22 when Ryan Lewis intercepted a Ryton pass to break away and score after 3 minutes, Leon Ryan gave a good conversion. Ryton returned this by attacking, and a kick over the top of Sunderland's defensive line led to Ryton putting points on the board 14 minutes into the game with a converted Try. After this try, Tom Atkinson comes on for Ryan Lewis at 12.

A Penalty in the Sunderland half due to a high tackle leads to Ryton getting a 3-point lead and Farai Chikumbirike getting a 10-minute rest in the Sin Bin. Only a couple of minutes of play after the penalty kick sees Tom Atkinson being shown the yellow card along with a Ryton player for unsporting behaviour. With Sunderland down to 13 men and Ryton down to 14, there were some nervous faces on the sideline. However, Sunderland kept their cool and continued to play well-structured rugby until Farai returned to the pitch to even the playing field. To add to the shakeup, Ryton received another yellow card for a high tackle with 3 minutes to halftime. With only a minute of the half left, Adam Barrass put Sunderland in the lead from a 5-metre scrum, Leon converts, and the half ends 10-14.

Only 1 change at halftime sees Paul Gregson on for Alex Lamb. 10 minutes into the second half sees L. Ryan locked onto the posts in a successful penalty kick to stretch the lead to 7 points. The second half saw good attacking play by both teams, with Sunderland extending the lead to 10 points by the 60-minute mark. It wasn't until the 80th minute that our club's top try scorer Simon Coleman finished off his season with 1 more try securing our victory over Ryton.

The lads went on to lift a cup in front of an amazing crowd. It was amazing to see that many supporters at the game, from friends and family of players, Shipwrights and Keelmen who weren't in the squad, our retired old boys cheering on their club to Mini and Junior Players, Parents and Coaches. Thank you for all your support yesterday, the atmosphere in the club last night was great. See you all next season!