FeaturedTeam Sunderland

Men’s Rugby book Northern Conference Shield Final place

Team Sunderland Men’s Rugby have reached the final of the Northern Conference Shield.

The team secured their berth with a 33-16 victory away to University of Leeds Men’s 4ths and will face Northumbria Men’s 4ths in the final at Durham University on 6th March.

Two tries apiece from David Bowman and Devrim Koca as well as a try for Team Sunderland Elite Athlete Sam Digman saw them over the line.

Leeds started strongly with two quick penalties before fly-half Zach Campbell cut the deficit to three with a penalty of his own.

Bowman then gave Sunderland the lead with a try in the corner with Campbell nailing a tough conversion from the touchline to give Sunderland a 10-6 lead.

Leeds reduced the lead to 10-9 with a penalty just before the break as Team Sunderland took their lead into half-time.

The second half proved to be a very one sided affair with Koca crossing early in the half with Campbell again converting to make the score 17-9.

Leeds got their first try of the game to close the gap to 17-16 before Bowman quickly added his second.

Koca extended Team Sunderland’s lead with a second try of his own to give Sunderland a 27-16 lead.

The gloss was added to the scoreline as Digman crossed the line with Campbell adding the conversion to secure a 33-16 victory.