It was 13th time lucky for Egremont Rangers as they finally ended a 12-match losing run in the National Conference Premier Division.
They moved off the bottom with a 52-12 home win over Thornhill Trojans who are now below them on points differential.
But at half-time the game certainly wasn’t won with Rangers sitting on an 18-6 lead.
Crucially Trojans had a man sin-binned soon after the break and by the time he returned Egremont had increased their lead with three more tries – and were coasting.
Earlier Billy Thompson, fresh from his heroics with the bat for Egremont’s cricket team on Friday night, had went in for the Rangers’ first try. Other unconverted touchdowns followed from Matt Hutchins and Sean Mumberson.
Although the Dewsbury side came back with a converted try, Egremont increased their lead before the interval with a try by Tom Horner which Thompson converted.
On the resumption, with Thornhill’s Luke Haigh in the bin, Egremont scored tries through Jon-Paul Brocklebank, Jake McBride and Matty Bewsher.
The Trojans did add a second converted try but Egremont added further tries from Bewsher and Kris Tyson (2) with Thompson completing a six goal haul.
Wath Brow went down 14-0 at Lock Lane in a game which turned nasty right on half-time.
The hosts had Danny Sowerby sent-off for an alleged shoulder charge and that sparked a mass brawl involving both teams.
The home side had led 6-0 at the time, despite already having a player sin-binned.
Ellison Holgate, who has been Wath Brow’s stand-out player this season, was again prominent but the Hornets just couldn’t get back on terms despite their advantage.
The 12-men of Lock Lane went on to add to their lead in the second-half and were deserving winners in the end.
In Division One, Kells maintained their title push with an excellent 26-18 win at Skirlaugh.
The Cumbrians had to re-set and finish strongly after seeing an 18-0 lead erased by a Skirlaugh fight-back.
They had gone 18-0 ahead inside 27 minutes with tries by Jake Parker, Harry Watson and Harley Nelson, all converted by Ross Gainford.
But by the hour mark Skirlaugh were level and alarm bells were ringing in the Kells’ ranks.
They needed to show grit, determination and no little skill to get back on track and a try from Mason Lewthwaite, converted by Gainford restored their advantage.
Gainford sealed it with a late penalty to keep the Whitehaven side on the heels of Hull Dockers with a match in hand.
In Division Two, though, Barrow Island continue to lose ground after slipping to a 31-12 defeat at Normanton Knights.
The Knights are now fourth, only a point behind the Islanders, and they have a game in hand.
It was still anybody’s game at half-time with the south Cumbrians only trailing 12-6. But the Knights pulled away well in the second-half.
Cam Corrie and Noah Robinson scored the Barrow tries with Adam Jackson and Brandon Corrie putting over a goal each.
In Division Three Seaton Rangers are still very much in the promotion mix after a hard-earned 18-16 win at Drighlington.
They had trailed 16-0 at half-time but came-back superbly in the second-half to snatch the points with a late converted try.
The Seaton fight-back came courtesy of tries by Dom Smallwood, Andy McGlasson and Gary Taylor with three conversions from Smallwood.
Seaton are fourth, level on points with Oldham St. Anne’s, but with a game in hand. It goes without saying Saturday’s home game with the Oldham side is a crucial fixture in the promotion picture.
Oldham St Anne’s had beaten Millom comfortably 28-6 to stay ahead of Seaton on points differential.
It was 10-0 at half-time and Millom’s second-half try came from Ethan Kelly which Jack Newbegin converted.
There were reasons for cheer in the Hensingham clubhouse after they ended an eight-match losing run with a 22-14 home win over Bentley.
It would have been handier for the west Cumbrians as Bentley scored two late unconverted tries to cut the deficit,
Tries by Andrew Middleton, Dan McGarry and Koby Conway, with two conversions from Jack Kellett had pushed the hosts into a 16-6 lead.
Josh Rogerson scored a fourth home try early in the second-half and Kellett improved. It stayed that way until Bentley posted those two late tries.
