Middlesbrough 3rds smd 4th ds proved to be a tough away fixture for Sunderland 3rds. With a mixture of young and old heads the Sunderland pack battled hard playing positive rugby in the first half dominating possession. However a lack of concentration and missed tackles let the strong boro back line run in a couple of well worked tries in the first 20 minutes. Sunderland bounced back with a try from James Fraser after numerous attempts from the pack 10 metres out. Andy blacks solo effort from a quick tap penalty caught the defence napping inside the 22 resulting in a 7 pointer and dave ditchburns lucky chip and chase got the 3rd try of the half. All 3 converted by Dan mcnay well. 2 nd half was a different story with Sunderland stepping off the gas and letting boro back into the game with 2 scores making it 21-20 to Sunderland. Sunderland's pack soon got going with solid support play ending with Ryan Gibson flying down the left wing to touch down for a try making the final score 26-20 to Sunderland. good points were: Relentless carries from a.aron Stephenson, anth Dodds, harry gills, James Fraser. ground covered by evergreens green, black, rush, Wallace and hillas. Great link up play between our resident scrum half Adam reay and 10 Dan mcnay. quality and experience after being forced to go shopping with the missus for 9 weeks, welcome back wordy cheers! overall effort, grit and determination, couldn't fault it. defence in our 22 was strong. low points: Andy blacks handling skills being clean through with nobody to beat dropping the ball and a boot malfunction with colin Wallace saying "I thought id get 11 seasons out of these boots". Well done lads great game Dave Ditchburn.