Keswick Men’s 2nds were beaten 2-1 at home by Kirkby Lonsdale as the visitors snatched a winner two minutes from the end.
The game was end to end from the start with both teams finding it difficult to break down good defences.
If anything Kirkby had the better of the early tussles, but it was Keswick with the first serious attempt on goal when Charlie Goodwin’s shot from the edge of the D forced a good save from the Kirkby keeper.
Kirkby pressed forward and a couple of good blocks from Chris Mattear made sure the Keswick goal wasn’t threatened.
As the half went on Kirkby were awarded a series of penalty corners, one after another, and Keswick keeper Rob Morris made a string of fine saves to keep the scores level heading into half time.
The second half was fought just as fiercely with both teams feeling they could win it.
Keswick struck first on 16 minutes when Joe Milledge took the ball across the keeper right to left, then cleverly placed it back to the right, leaving him with no chance of saving it.
Matty Burridge was sin binned on 25 minutes and Kirkby pressed forward making their one man advantage pay as they drew level a minute later through Ed Evans.
Both mid-fields seemed to gain energy in the last 10 minutes as they made runs from deep looking for a winner. Just as it looked like the game was destined for a draw, with two minutes left, Kirkby’s Andrew Campbell managed to beat home keeper Morris to give his team the lead and the points.
The second game saw Keswick Men’s third team playing Preston’s 6th team when it was always going to be tough for the visitors who turned up with no substitutes.
Keswick’s front line was led by Jack Chippendale who registered the first goal after six minutes and the lead was soon doubled by Luke Doran.
To be fair, the game was just about over then, as the Keswick team was so dominant. Yet for all their dominance they were unable to find another goal until the 24th minute when Taylor Dawson beat the keeper and it styayed 3-0 until half-time.
The pattern was the same on the re-start with Keswick doing most of the attacking, and after eight minutes Angus Alcorn made it four.
Harry King scored the fifth after 18 minutes, and the scoring was rounded off by Marcus Dean.
The Keswick team was a mix of older and young players, with some of the senior players having played first team hockey in years gone by.
Some have played 2nd team more recently, and this has really helped the younger players.
Their encouragement and advice during games has, in turn, helped the youngsters’ confidence, which was evident from their general play and sharp passing against Preston.
There are clearly some really good players emerging in this third team which augers well for the Keswick club’s future.
