Seconds cup semi final victory over Gateshead Threes

By Dave Ditchburn:
Semi final action.

Sunderland 2nds vs Gateshead 3rds.

Our biggest game of the season turned into a gritty encounter against a strong Gateshead team.

We led through an early Hinder penalty after Gateshead had a man sin binned for not retreating 10.

Ten minutes later Colin Wallace was binned for being offside, I thought the ref could have let him off for being slow!

Wallace soon made up for it scoring from inside the 22 after a quick tap from Jossy. Conv by Hinder.

10 - 0 up at half time.

The second half saw us take advantage of their defence being slow to react twice inside their 22 with Dan Hinder and Jossy both taking quick tap penalties and scoring. This gave us a comfortable 22 - 0 lead.

Both teams had another man binned however Gateshead were not dead and buried - the final ten minutes saw them run in two well worked tries in the corner making the final score 22 - 10.

I thought if Gatesheads hands had been more accurate the scoreline would have been closer if not altogether different.

Our defence was strong but not as polished as previous weeks.
Attack was direct and gutsy, we took our chances when we could.
Our discipline needs to improve and id like to see more ball in hand from the big lads - Harry and Sika "the entertainer"

Man of the match was Jossy for his quick thinking and line breaking runs, followed closely with great performances from Chris Little, Harry Connell and Aaron.

Great win boys, now the hard work begins!!!