Durham earn an impressive win against defending champions

Cheshire Under 20s 7 - 9 Durham County Under 20s At Caldy RFC

A Durham County Under 20s team badly hit by late cry-offs produced a magnificent display away to sweep aside defending Under 20's County Champions Cheshire 9-7 at Caldy RFC.

Durham displayed total commitment with waves of pride and passion throughout and even a final 15 minute onslaught by a never say die Cheshire outfit failed to steal the spoils.

From the kick-off Cheshire were unsettled by a Durham team determined to build on their win against Cumbria in the previous round of matches. The Durham front five deserve special praise for their work ethic, but flanker Aaron Myers (West Hartlepool) was the outstanding player on the field in both the loose and tight despite a hamstring injury.

Durham took the game to Cheshire from the start, playing in their faces and applying some excellent phases of play but the Cheshire defence stood strong.

The first real scoring opportunity of the game was squandered by Cheshire after confusion lead to a knock-on. Uncharacteristically, Cheshire's game was full of handling errors and they frequently broke up the flow of play for the home side.

Durham's uncompromising style bore fruit in the minutes leading up to the break when Daniel Wood (Durham University) kicked two penalties for a 6-0 lead at halftime.

The visitors again started strongly in the second half despite a new sense of urgency amongst Cheshire. However, Durham extended there lead to 9-0 with another Wood penalty after 50 minutes.

Soon after Cheshire began to come to life as a result of the move of Captain Alex Davies (Birkenhead Park) from fullback to fly-half. Davies started to weave some magic into Cheshire's game and was rewarded with a try for himself after 65 minutes. He also converted to put the home side within touching distance of Durham.

The remaining 15 minutes saw Durham absorb prolonged phases of pressure deep in their own half but the defence and the team spirit held firm for a important and richly deserved win.

Durham travel to Lancashire and Fleetwood RFC in their next game on 12th March, 2-15 kick-off.