A grinding affair with few moments of quality did deliver a 17-0 win for Aspatria at bottom of the table Rockliffe Whitley Bay.
In the final analysis that is probably all that mattered from this Durham/Northumberland Division One clash.
In the early phase of the game Aspatria were very comfortable with plenty of possession, and a scrum that looked threatening, which were good indicators.
On 14 minutes the visitors opened the scoring from which the starting point was a scrum around halfway. The ball was moved rapidly through the backs to Joe Beaty who joined the attack from fullback.
Beaty did the hard yards up the left flank, committing the final defender before unloading to winger Grant Bethwaite who had nothing to do but dot down. Jack Clegg converted.
Aspatria continued to look the more likely side but several good field positions were wasted before a second score was achieved.
This came with 25 minutes gone and again resulted from a simple, but precise back-line passing movement which created space on half way.
This time Beaty had no need for support from his winger. His pace was sufficient to go around the last defender for a clear run behind the sticks and Clegg converted.
To this point Whitley Bay had done little but defend and the clock ticked on to 29 minutes before they achieved a first position in the Aspatria 22.
The attack was efficient but it was met by a solid defensive effort which after rebutting several probing phases diffused the threat
Within minutes of the restart Aspatria appeared to have put the game beyond Whitley Bay with a Clegg penalty.
The impact of this score turned out to be far from positive. From this point Whitley Bay began to dominate both field position and possession.
On 48 minutes there was a strange passage of play. Whitley Bay pinned Aspatria to the try line and looked capable of launching a comeback. However, with Aspatria reeling they opted to use a penalty award to go for goal rather than press for a try. The attempt failed.
The pressure continued but the lesson was not learned. Within a minute another penalty award should have been knocked into the corner but this was declined in favour of another shot at goal which again ended in failure.
On 60 minutes the pressure on the Aspatria line was immense but the home side just could not find that moment of inspiration to break down the Black Reds wall.
Aspatria ‘s defence looked about to crack and it looked ominous when Richard Miller walked to the sin bin for illegally halting an attack.
Whitley Bay engineered a great position but ignored a two man overlap of the left and attempted to bludgeon a way through Aspatria, a tactic that never looked like working.
The general pressure on Aspatria lasted up until the final ten minutes of the game. Aspatria’s hopes of a try bonus point had long since faded but they did finish the game with a flourish.
A fracas born out of frustration erupted on the side- line. The home side went down to 14 as a result and the penalty gifted Aspatria field position in the home 22. It was just the release that was required for the visitors to finish the game.
