If anyone was wondering why Upper Eden should be playing at a higher level of League rugby they got the answer at Aspatria.
The Kirkby Stephen side arrived at Bower Park for a Cumbria Cup quarter final tie with a perfect record from last year’s Cumbria League campaign.
With a deserved 27-26 victory over the Black Reds they amply demonstrated why they were untouchable in that competition and must start favourites for promotion this time around.
Played in perfect conditions this pulsating cup clash had just about everything – hard forward play, strong running backs and drama by the bucket full.
The tie was not settled until the final play of the game and when time ran out Upper Eden held that single point advantage to progress to the semi-final stage alongside Kendal, Carlisle and Penrith.
It was a deserved victory in a contest that was so, so close.
In the early stages it looked as if Aspatria might run away with the tie. Within two minutes home forward Greg Dickinson was over the line for a 5-0 lead and minutes later a second score looked an absolute certainty but the final pass was inaccurate and the chance went begging.
Upper Eden took full advantage of the let-off and aided by a series of penalties conceded by Aspatria began to push the home side backwards.
It was no surprise when they drew level on 12 minutes when flanker Will Birkbeck got over for an unconverted try.
This was the start of a poor period of play by Aspatria.
On 16 minutes Aspatria went down to 14 men following a high tackle and the penalty count kept rising. It was almost a relief for home supporters that into the second quarter the scores remained level.
The pressure applied by Upper Eden had to tell but when the score came it owed much to good fortune.
A line-out around the 22 was over-thrown and the ball might have been anyone’s but it was picked up by Upper Eden and with the defence out of position an easy score resulted for Dan Todd. Ollie Bennett converted.
A 12-5 lead for the visitors became 17-5 on 31 minutes, this time from a fluent passing move down the left flank which produced a second try for Birkbeck.
Before half time Aspatria launched a fight back. The home back division looked dangerous with ball in hand and particularly so when Joe Beaty found space to operate in. With the final move of the half Beaty’s dancing feet confused the defence and he was over the line. The conversion bringing the score back to 12-17 at the break.
The second half started with Aspatria getting back on top as the home forwards were now running hard and causing problems in the visitors’ half.
On 51 minutes this resulted in a try for Craig Hallighan and the conversion gave them a 19-17 advantage.
On 60 minutes the fortunes of the game swung back in favour of the visitors. This was their best try of the day.
Around halfway, Upper Eden robbed possession away from Aspatria and rampaged upfield with a fine inter passing movement that delivered its deserved reward with a try for Matt Allinson, converted by Bennett to restore the lead.
The five point advantage for Upper Eden lasted less than five minutes.
The visitors lost a man to a yellow card as the defence grew in desperation. Aspatria’s back division showed real class to deliver a score wide-out on the right.
Jack Clegg’s conversion sailed over and the home side moved back in front, but at 26-24, the game was still anybody’s.
Upper Eden came back at Aspatria who also lost a man to the sin bin for over exuberant defence. Upper Eden opted to kick the resultant penalty but the distance looked too great for Bennett and so it proved.
Into the final 10 minutes and Upper Eden forced another penalty but this time much closer to the posts and the kick was executed by Bennett to put the visitors in front by a point.
As the clock ticked down and with the final whistle imminent it was looking likely that Upper Eden would hang on but then the pressure told and they in turn conceded a penalty.
A successful kick would hand the tie to Aspatria. Clegg struck the ball well enough but the ball missed the upright on the wrong side by a whisker and it was this fine margin that rewarded Upper Eden with a place in the semi-final.
That draw will be made on Thursday at a Cumbria county meeting.
