Two games played, two wins recorded and almost 100 points scored have made it a promising opening for Kendal in North One West.
They followed-up their 45-7 win at Carlisle with a 50-20 success against Vale of Lune at Mint Bridge.
Asthey had done at Warwick Road a week earlier Kendal started well and after only four minutes were ahead.
When Vale were penalised for a deliberate knock on to end the Kendal attack Glen Weightman put the ball into touch and the line-out was taken cleanly. The forwards powered to the line for Steven Nelson to touchdown and Chris Park converted.
When another kick was poorly dealt with by Vale, Mark Carruthers gathered and made ground towards the twenty two, before finding Ben Dixon in support. He went past three defenders to get the score, his fourth try after last week’s hat-trick at Carlisle. Again Park converted.
By the tenth minute Kendal were threatening to pull out of sight as they led 19-0. Vale were caught offside and the penalty to touch saw a clean catch to release Nelson. He broke and sent Carruthers in for an unconverted try.
Five minutes later Vale pulled an unconverted try back after some poor tackling left a gap in mid-field which the visitors were able to exploit.
It raised Vale’s hopes and when they came into the game more it took two crunching tackles from Kris Bratton to rescue Kendal when their defence seemed to have been split. All they could manage though was a 25th minute penalty.
After half an hour Kendal were back on the scoreboard with their bonus point try. James Gough reacted quickest at a penalty near the Vale line and popped the ballot Weightman who managed to twist over the line. Park converted.
The final score of the half went to the Vale and their converted try meant they trailed 31-15 at the break.
It didn’t take long for Kendal to add to that when play resumed. Dan Greenwood made ground from a scrum and Nelson charged through, using his strength to get the ball down. Park converted.
Kendal’s seventh try came from a midfield scrum when the ball was moved right and Park broke the defence to put-in Bratton for the touchdown. Park converted.
Five minutes from time Nelson got over to complete his hat-trick but Vale had the final word with a third try, but too little too late.
