Benwell Hill continued their promotion push with a convincing 4-1 win over Sunderland 2, who’s miserable run of form continued.

The form guide made grim reading for the Wearsiders as they travelled to Benwell, who are unbeaten at home this season, and had won six of their last seven games.

Sunderland, meanwhile, boasted just one win in their last eight, and that was against already relegated Chester-le-Street.

Kick off was delayed by 40 minutes as the “Beast from the East” hit the travelling players.

Benwell were quickly into a 2-0 lead.

Second string kicked off the evenings action, and saw Charlie Ponente quickly dispatch Kevin Dryden 3-0. The fourth string match was over in even quicker time. Bob Aynsely cruising past Ben Sims in straight games.

Sunderland’s Jeff Stoker fought hard to keep the tie alive, overcoming an 11-4 deficit in the fifth to give his side their only win of the night.

Jamie Pitchford’s retrieving proved too much for Colin Sydney, as he claimed Benwell’s third straight sets win of the night, sealing the tie for the hosts.

The match had been going for nearly three hours as Phil White and Eric Anderson took to the court. A hard fought match went the way of White, giving Benwell a 4-1 victory and a 19-4 points split.

The result leaves Benwell Hill 4 points from the promotion spots, with strugglers Primrose and Chester-le-Street still to play.

Sunderland, meanwhile, will likely need to win both of their last two games to avoid the drop.