Keswick 30 Southport 6
Playing away for a home game, Keswick managed a bonus point win against Southport by 30-6 in North Two West.
The game was switched to the all-weather at Penrith following the horrendous weather in the build-up to the week-end which had left Davidson Park under water.
For the first few minutes both sides tried running the ball, with the occasional kick until Keswick were penalised ten metres out in front of the posts on eight minutes for not rolling away and Southport duly converted off the upright to take the lead.
The 2 defences were holding fast but it was handling errors that stopped a couple of promising Keswick attacks until the 14th minute.
Running the ball right from the breakdown, and including a couple of missed passes, Danny Craghill was able to follow-up a chip by Billy Thompson and kick through for Danny Price to score an unconverted try.
Keswick attacked from the re-start and after a couple of unsuccessful line-outs managed to get to five metres out before conceding a penalty and allowing the visitors to clear.
The next meaningful attack by Keswick was on the right and resulted in a touchdown, but the final pass had been forward and the score was disallowed.
This excellently refereed game continued with both sides finding their line-outs under pressure and cancelling each other out in open play until the 25th minute when a penalty just inside the Southport 22 allowed Thompson to open the lead to 8-3.
From the re-start kick-off a no-arms tackle reduced Keswick to 14 men for ten minutes and Southport tried to take advantage of the extra man. They attacked hard on the right, eventually winning a penalty which they converted to leave Keswick narrowly ahead 8-6 at the break.
Keswick extended their lead after just three minutes of the second half as Thompson slotted a second penalty, 11-6.
The Keswick scrum was in the ascendancy, pushing the visitors back and putting them under pressure in their 22 where from a defensive kick to touch Keswick won the line-out and ran the ball into midfield where good passing, with penalty advantage, allowed George Holme to take the ball ten metres out and break three tackles to score a try converted by Thompson to take the lead to 18-6 after 49 minutes.
Keswick showed good intent, with the line-out performing well and good running lines from the backs. This was exemplified when a Southport clearance kick from a line out was caught by Holme who outpaced the defence on the right to score in the corner, to lead 23-6 as the third quarter ended.
Southport showed their metal in the final quarter attacking the Keswick line and putting together a number of phases to get five to ten metres out more than once, but were unable to breach a solid defence and eventually knocked forward or were overturned.
The open ground allowed the Keswick backs to run fast and wide, especially now the game was effectively won, with the wingers, aided by the full back, able to make good ground, but it was forward dominance that produced the bonus point try.
A scrum to Keswick five metres out was driven to the try line where number eight-Aaron Thompson picked up to touch down on 70 minutes. Billy Thomson converted.
To Southport’s credit they didn’t give up but still couldn’t overcome the Keswick defence and no further score was made.
