Kendal beat Aspatria 17-5 in the first warm-up friendly ahead of the new competitive rugby union season next month.
It was exactly 17 months after the last First XV game at Mint Bridge (vs Malton & Norton), a gap of 74 weeks.
Returning to Kendal after time away were Reece Tomlinson and James Gough, whilst prop Hugh Davies made a first appearance, despite being at the club for some time.
It was the normal pre-season type of game with rolling substitutionsand whileKendal were able to use 23 players, Aspatria went with 17.
Despite playing in summer, the weather at Mint Bridge was similar to much of the 2019/20 season, with regular very heavy rain, but it did not spoil the game with the ground in good condition.
Kendal opened the scoring after seven minutes with a powerful rolling maul from a lineout being finished by the former Silloth and Wigton forward Greg Wrathall.
The second try came from Aspatria possession. When the ball went loose Anthony Gage fed the ball to Ben Dixon, who powered from close to halfway to the line to score. Glen Weightman added the conversion.
Despite the scoreline Aspatria probably had more of the ball, helped by a string of penalties against Kendal for technical offences, with the pack being over eager to try to steal Aspatria ball.
The Kendal defence was very solid, and Aspatria rarely threatened a score.
But the Aspatria coaching team felt afterwards that their defence had done exceptionally well, especially as they were limited in their substitutions. In fact they drew the second-half 5-5.
The first score of the second half again came from turn over ball. Gage made a run in the centre, and when the ball came out, Liam Hayton made a break, before passing to Lewis Kincart, who with players in support on both sides, needed no help and powered through to score.
The Aspatria pack came more into the game over the final quarter and they got their try when Matthew Atkinson powered over for the score which was unconverted.
Unfortunately both clubs won’t be able to follow-up this week-end as scheduled friendlies have been cancelled. Kendal should have been playing Ilkley.
In Aspatria’s case it was a home game with Alnwick but injuries from Saturday, a club wedding and two players on holiday have meant the decision to call-off.
One player who missed out at Kendal was Aspatria half-back Jack Clegg who was at Twickenham with partner Sophie Cass as a finalist in the Mitsubishi Volunteer of the Year Awards.
Jack didn’t win but was highly impressed with the ones that did, and also by how they were all treated at the RFU’s headquarters.
