Durham deserve their third consecutive victory of the championship

England Under 20's Inter-County Championship North Division

Durham County Under 20s defeated Lancashire 29-27 in a game of two halves away at West Park RFC to set up a quarter-final qualification decider against Northumberland next Sunday.

Durham's third consecutive win in the competition was deserved after turning around a 17-3 deficit at halftime with a fine 15 man effort.

The predictably powerful Lancashire forwards exerted their authority from the kick-off and were leading 10-0 after 15 minutes thanks to a try for Matthew Clarke (Warrington) and a penalty and conversion from Kalan Warburton (West Park.)

Dan Kyle (Durham City) responded five minutes later with a testing 35 penalty to get Durham off the mark.

Further pressure from the big Lancashire forwards created a try for Derek Salisbury (Orrell), converted by Warburton for a 17-3 halftime lead.

The second half was nearly all Durham, forcing the home side into mistakes and turning over important ball.

The first of Durham's 26 second half points came from a try after two minutes by Martin Lithgo (Seaton Carew), created by an Oliver Brennand (Durham University) break. Kyle adding the conversion to reduce the arrears to 17-10.

Lancashire quickly responded with a penalty after six minutes from the trusty boot of Warburton for 20-10 advantage.

However, from the restart Tim Brown (Durham City)pressured Lancashire into a mistake and fast hands yielded an unconverted try for replacement fullback Daniel Kelly (Durham University.)

Despite applying prolonged phases of pressure to the Lancashire line, Durham were kept at bay through some commendable defence until the 28th minute.

A Kyle kick over was fumbled by the Lancashire fullback and Brennand hacked on twice to score under the posts. Kyle converting and putting Durham into a 22-20 lead.

A second converted try for Brennand, created by a Lithgo snipe, left Lancashire needing to score twice in the last five minutes to overturn the 29-20 visitors lead.

Lancashire pushed Durham hard in the final minutes and were rewarded with a converted try by Jack Lee (Blackpool), but it was in vain as Durham ran out 29-27 winners.

Durham entertain Northumberland in their final and crucial last match at Sunderland RFC on Sunday 26th March, 2-15 kick-off.