A much-depleted Keswick side went down 42-10 at second-placed Rochdale when they played their first North Two West game of the year.
They had only seven first team regulars and two of those had to play out of position.
The home fixture had been a high-scoring match, with Rochdale running out winners by 10 points, and against their full first team Keswick were going to find the going tough.
As Rochdale mounted their first attack through their backs an attempted interception was judged to be a deliberate knock on and after only two minutes the home side were 3-0 up.
The first scrum was Rochdale’s put in and they won fairly easily but the second put in on eight minutes was Keswick’s and they were pushed off the ball, giving away a penalty. It was tapped and run wide for the first try which was converted,
Having held out for 20 minutes the defence was out-run on the right again as Rochdale scored their second try, which went unconverted.
Keswick made good progress into the Rochdale 22 and were awarded a penalty for not releasing which Billy Thompson converted on 34 minutes to give the small group of travelling supporters some hope.
The early stages of the second half were evenly matched, both sides running well with ball in hand, but both were also penalised for not releasing in the tackle.
A penalty to Rochdale 15 metres out in front of the posts was accompanied by a yellow card against Keswick for not rolling away and Rochdale opted for a scrum.
Running the ball from the back their extra man advantage allowed them to outpace the Keswick defence for another unconverted try on 49 minutes.
Back up to full strength, Keswick put in a good attacking move on 52 minutes, with Chris Potter coming in off the left wing to take the ball at an angle and run through to score to the right of the posts. Thompson converted.
The Keswick defence held out well until the 64th minute when not releasing allowed Rochdale to convert the penalty.
Having scored three tries in the first 67 minutes, Rochdale doubled their tally in the last 13, although the first, which was converted, came when a Keswick injury left them a gap and two missed tackles allowed them to reach the try line.
Then a goal line drop out was kicked towards Potter, unmarked on the left wing but the ball was caught by a slight breeze and bounced back off the upright for Keswick to have to touch down, giving away another five metre scrum.
This time their forwards did manage to touch the ball down, though they did appear to have knocked on first and the converted try took them to 37-10 on 77 minutes.
Keswick attacked well from the restart but having lost possession were able to hold the ball up in the tackle for a maul to gain the scrum put in.
Not for the first time this season Keswick were undone in the final moments of a game, with a penalty and yellow card with the final whistle due.
Rochdale attacked into the Keswick 22, were awarded a scrum and were able to drive over for a last, unconverted try.
