NORTH Midlands continued their successful defence of the County Championship Shield with a 20-12 win over Durham at Stourbridge.
North Midlands will win the North Pool and progress to the final at Twickenham on May 29 if they beat Oxfordshire at Chinnor next Saturday.
Victory against a hard-working Durham side was based on tries from the Stourbridge trio of Jon Hall, Howard Dawson and Toby Wilson.
Hall crossed after only three minutes and Dawson drove over 20 minutes later but Durham reduced the lead to just five points when Sunderland flanker Tony Irwin touched down on the half hour.
Winger Wilson effectively settled the game when he scored from a charge-down nine minutes into theb second half and skipper Duncan Hughes, the Stourbridge and England Counties fly-half, added the conversion followed by a 58th minute penalty.
Durham responded with a try from Darlington winger Ian Coulson almost immediately which full-back Dave Glendenning improved but North Midlands closed in on a place in the final and promotion from the Shield to the top flight Cup competition next season.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article