Durham Senior Men open campaign with heavy victory over Cumbria at Wigton Rugby Club

Durham Senior Men open campaign with heavy victory over Cumbria at Wigton Rugby Club

Durham Senior Men kick started their Bill Beaumont campaign with a comfortable 64-5 victory over Cumbria at Wigton Rugby Club.

Durham Men were in action on Saturday against Cumbria in their opening fixture of their 2017/18 campaign.

Despite an absence of some familiar and experienced players in the squad, the side made a comfortable and strong start.

Gus Miller, Durham Senior Men Coach said: “It was a good team performance from Durham.

“We had a few new and first time players in the squad but the team gelled well in training on Thursday and that was demonstrated in the game.

“Cumbria had strength in experience with a number of players from previous seasons, but we were too strong for them on the day.”

On the day, tries came from; Conner Foley, Jack McPhilips, Liam Checksfield, Martin Hopley, Max Connon (2), Ollie Hodgson, Sean Moloney (2) and Tom Larder with conversions from Dan Finney (4), Max Connon (2) and Peter Evans.

Miller added: “It was a comfortable win for Durham because of the way we played, we played a wide and expansive game and it created results.

“Staffordshire is our next challenge, and they are strong up front so we will be preparing for that in training this week.

“We have a few more experienced players available this week from DMP and Billingham, so we are confident in a producing another strong side.

“This weeks game is the next hurdle in our bigger challenge of reaching the final at Twickenham.”

Durham played Staffordshire last season away, winning 41-14. The side will host them on Saturday at Durham City RFC from 2.30pm.

By Clarissa Murphy