Kendal found their form in the second-half at lowly Bowdon to earn a 28-11 victory and a crucial bonus point.
It was not one of Kendal’s best performances, especially in the opening 40 minutes, but they rallied well and were comfortable winners in the end.
The weather en-route hadn’t been promising, with a blizzard and heavy rain raising the prospect of a wasted journey. But remarkably it was fair at Bowdon and the sun even came out in the second-half.
A sloppy start by Kendal saw them bomb a couple of early chances and then they conceded a penalty which Bowdon kicked.
It was pretty basic stuff from Bowdon but it served them well enough against a Kendal side who couldn’t find their rhythm or direction. Howrever they did eventually put enough together to put the reliable Steven Nelson in for a try which Chris Park converted.
Bowdon were still in the game, however, and a second home penaslty left them trailing by only 7-6 at the break.
Coach Garry Holmes would clearly not be happy with that first-half effort but his side got a helping hand right at the start of the second-half.
Bowdon tried to take a quick line-out throw, which was poorly executed and Matt Houghton nipped in smartly to intercept and score comfortably under the posts. Park converted.
Bowdon showed some spirit, however, and came back well to score an unconverted try to make it a three-point game.
Finally Kendal started to take charge and following some intense pressure Nelson got over again. Glen Weightman took over the kicking and converted with Park having sustained an injury.
Time was running out and there were only eight minutes left when they scored the bonus point try, A catch and drive was well executed and debutant scrum-half Aaron Quincy-Byrne got over with Weightman converting.
