A 40-32 win over Whitley Bay Rockcliff confirmed Aspatria as genuine challengers to finish in the Durham Northumberland One League’s top four.
The Black Reds remain fifth but are now only trailing fourth placed Stockton by five points with a game in hand.
Less impressive was the Aspatria performance which was not that of a club looking to play in a higher division.
The chief cause of this was the number of try-scoring chances created but not converted as despite rattling in six tries, Aspatria should have been in double figures.
This analysis takes nothing away from Whitley Bay Rockcliff who stuck to their task for a full 80 minutes and at times tested the home defence to the limit.
Indeed a final flourish, albeit too late to influence the end result, earned WBR a try bonus point that no one watching could argue was undeserved.
Despite only eight points separating the teams at full time and the plaudits earned by WBR for a 100 per cent effort, an Aspatria win never looked seriously in doubt. The impressive young back line that is developing at Bower Park was simply too good and if they had been more clinical the gap on the scoreboard would have been very much wider.
Aspatria opened the scoring straight from the kick off. Ryan Scott playing out of position in the forwards kick started the rampage upfield. Several of his team mates assisted the movement before Alex Barton on the right wing finished in the corner.
WBR struck back almost immediately with a penalty following an illegal tackle which on another day may have resulted in a penalty try being awarded.
Following this exchange of scores the game evened out but most of the play was now in WBR territory.
Back Row man, James Ravell was in excellent form and his efforts were rewarded on 24 minutes when the pressure exerted by Aspatria was finally turned into points. This time it was the turn of left winger, Grant Bethwaite, to find empty space with an unopposed run down the flank and extend the lead to 12:3.
Attacks mounted by WBR were rare but in the final ten minutes of the half they summoned up an offensive that provided Aspatria with a genuine threat.
Both forwards and backs tried different tactics but each and every effort found Aspatria’s defence unmoveable. With only a handful of minutes remaining WBR finally threw in the towel and settled for a penalty to close the gap.
With half time looming there was still enough time left for Aspatria to strike. The third try was near indescribable as the ball pinged between players in a chaotic fashion before Joe Beaty took advantage of Bethwaite’s impressive work to go under the posts and end the first half 19-6 in Aspatria’s favour.
It was a slow start for Aspatria in the second period with self-inflicted errors assisting WBR to put the home side under the cosh. The Black Reds managed to get through this difficult period without damage and when they had done so moved upfield to secure a try bonus point.
Unusually, the try was a direct result of some deft ball handling and a surprising turn of pace from second row Dickie Miller. His footwork down the right flank was excellent and when he turned the ball inside, fullback Ross Barton was in position to take the ball the final yards to the try line.
Aspatria appeared to be cruising but on 51 minutes they got a timely reminder from WBR that they were fully capable of inflicting damage. The movement looked straight off the training paddock and the running angle of the try scorer was so precise that it was unstoppable.
The score prompted Aspatria to move up a gear and on 57 minutes a sweeping backs move involving Bethwaite, Beaty and Josh Watson in the home 22 ended with Ravell going over for a well-deserved score.
The lead soon increased as Bethwaite easily rounded what appeared to be a tiring defence. As far as the end result was concerned WBR had now been taken out of the equation. How they then lifted themselves off the floor to battle for a bonus point in the last 13 minutes was alone worth the admission price.
First a good forward effort got them over the line for a second try which closed the deficit to 20 points. More space opened up on 70 minutes when both sides lost a man to the sin bin for a hand bags duel. The game was transformed with both teams found guilty of entertaining a crowd bathed in March sunshine. Two late WBR tries followed but all too late to affect the result.
