Northern Juniors 1 showed no signs of tiredness from the Northern Junior Open as they put together a 3-2 win over Sunderland 2 to further tighten the relegation battle in Division 2.

The Wearsiders did take an early lead through Ben Sims’ 3-0 win over Megan Evans but the tie was quickly levelled as Matthew Thompson impressed with a 3-1 win over Dave Lumsden.

The youngsters then sealed the tie with two more good performances. John Thompson overcome a shaky start to win 3-1 against Eric Anderson, some top class speed and retrieving eventually frustrating the Sunderland captain.

Shortly after, Tom Porter capped off his own 3-1 victory. He built up a 2-0 lead over Colin Sidney and held off his opponents fightback to give his side an important win.

Jeff Stoker added a consolation win for the visitors with a 3-0 win over Harriet Wight.

The points were split 14-9 in favour of the Gosforth outfit.

It promises to be an interesting finish to the bottom half of Division 2. With Chester-le-Street 2 looking certain to go down, there are 3 teams who could slip into the second relegation spot.

Northern Juniors 1 have 130 points while Sunderland 2 have a small lead on 138, both sides with four games to go. Primrose 1 have 109 points but have two games in hand on their rivals.

The next round of games takes place on February 20, where Sunderland welcome promotion favourites Westoe and the Juniors face a crucial visit to Primrose.