Aspatria Hornets have bowed out of the BARLA National Cup after being given a second chance against Sharlston Rovers.
The Hornets gave a battling performance against a side who have won the competition an impressive three times since 2011.
But the final 38-6 score-line does not really do Aspatria justice who battled with a lot of determination and spirit throughout the quarter final contest.
Coach Hitro Okosene said: “They were a good side who handled the conditions better than us and got through their sets well.
“If we could have got to half time against the wind just 6-0 down we would still have been in it but they cashed in on two of our errors and led 20-0 at the break.
“But there were a number of positives for us and we have a fortnight now to prepare for our first League game at home to Distington.
“We had suffered a blow before kick-off when one of our playmakers Guy Reed had to pull out with an arm injury, so it meant rejigging the line-up,”
The first quarter was more about the opposing packs vying for a foothold in the game, with the only chances sparking from a mistake in the difficult conditions.
Sharlston made the most of a Hornets knock-on close to the line after 18 minutes, and Ryan Butterworth crossed the line for his first try, which was converted by Jorge Richardson.
The game then opened up for Sharlston and they managed three more tries before the half- time whistle. The first came from Andy Gallagher who stretched his way over the line. Richardson converted again.
Butterworth scored his second as Sharlston had the numbers out wide, allowing him to cross down the blindside. Gallagher then crossed from dummy-half for his team’s fourth try, again unconverted for the last plays of the first half.
It took six minutes for the opener in the second half, when the Hornets were penalised and Brendon Gibbins crossed as the ball was shifted from right to left, but the conversion was again missed.
A dubious penalty against the Hornets was capitalised on and Sharlston scored, to open up a 28 point gap.
Their next came from some great support play, as a burst from halfway was backed up well leaving Richardson with some clear ground in front of him to the try line. He missed the chance to convert and was later taken from the field with an ankle injury.
Josh Beecher then scored the best try of the afternoon for his side, just after the hour mark. It came off the back of some tricky hands in the midfield leading to a break. The ball was shipped wide to Gibbins who, realising that he did not have the pace to get to the line, sent a bullet pass to his winger who crossed in the corner.
With time running out, the Hornets had the opportunity for a late consolation after earning a repeat set when a tricky kick to the corner was taken off the field by the winger.
They then earned a scrum down the left side. Jack Wilson picked-up the ball from the back and raced across the face of the defence before finding a great offload for Stuart Creighton who sent in Ken Bowes for a try, which was converted by Rocco Okesene.
With a number of standout performances, especially in the pack, it was no sur[rise when a second row forward David Miller won the Hornets’ man of the match award.
The general feeling was that the squad will benefit from this experience, learning a lot in the process and feeling optimistic about the future.
