Durham too strong

Sunderland u11s took on County champions Durham City in a series of evenly matched clashes.

First up, the Spartans put their defensive game into action as their first half was dominated by a relentless Durham attack.

Although city sustained the pressure on Sunderland's defensive line, they failed to make any inroads past the Ashbrooke youngster's dogged defence with some great last ditch tackling from Jack Taylor and Jonathan James.

After a scrappy first half, the Spartans went straight on the attack and only a couple of desperate tackles from Durham halted the hoops from getting any points on the board, Alex Middleton and Tom Howe linking for some attacks around the fringes.

With time ticking on, Durham link up a brace of slick passes to breach the gain line to cross for the only try of the game, running out 5-0 winners.

In the second match, a fired-up Stormers showed their slick passing and light feet, led by flyer Sam Watson, who danced around a few challenges to cut through Durham's impressive defence.

City's outstanding attack, however, saw them plunder a quick brace of tries, to go 10-0 up, as the Stormers suffered a lapse in concentration.

Sunderland fought back however with excellent rucking and driving forward from Josh Jobling and Adam Williams.

Adam Shiels led the tackle count, while Tommy Lavender linked well with defence and attack forcing Durham onto the back foot.

Direct running saw Bryson Robinson and Josh Jobling crash over for two tries, but with the scores tied, durham pulled ahead with a final score to win 15-10.