It marked a welcome return to home comforts for Pool, playing at Mayfield Park for the first time since 8th November and they wasted little time in making their presence felt.

The hosts started brightly and were soon on the scoreboard when hooker Stephen Smailes broke free down the left-hand side, racing clear to touch down for the opening try. Antony Lawrence calmly slotted the conversion to give Pool a 7–0 lead.

Sunderland responded with a well-worked catch and drive deep inside the Pool 22 to narrow the gap to 7–5, but the home side were quick to reassert control.

Alex Sharp made a superb line break and showed excellent awareness to release David Carson-White on his inside shoulder, who scored behind the posts. Lawrence added the extras once again to extend the advantage.

Sharp then turned from provider to finisher, claiming his first try of the afternoon before the interval to secure a third converted score and send Pool into the break firmly in control.

With Sunderland attacking down the bank in the second half, the visitors began the stronger and enjoyed a sustained spell of pressure inside the Pool 22. However, against the run of play, Lawrence produced a moment of magic - stealing possession in contact before embarking on a lung-busting, length-of-the-field run to score in the corner and stretch the lead to 26–5.

Sunderland were eventually rewarded for their efforts with a converted try, but any hopes of a comeback were swiftly dampened. Lawrence crossed again from close range for his second of the afternoon, restoring Pool’s healthy cushion at 33–12.

Sharp then continued his remarkable scoring form, notching his second try of the game in The Shack corner - his 16th in 16 appearances in all competitions this season - to make it 38–12.

As the match entered the final ten minutes, Sunderland added a third try, but Pool had the final word. James Lile powered up the right wing, bulldozing through two defenders to score and cap a fine all-round performance from the hosts.

In total, seven tries told only part of the story. This was a tremendous team display from Pool, who looked sharp throughout and grew in confidence as the contest wore on. Just as impressive was the defensive effort, with every player contributing to a huge collective shift to keep a physically larger Sunderland side largely at bay and maintain a commanding gap on the scoreboard.