Carlisle look to get their season up and running at Warwick Road on Saturday when they play their first home game in the new Regional 2 North League.
They opened with a decent performance in a 17-10 defeat at South Shields Westoe and follow up by entertaining Morpeth.
It could be a test, though, as Morpeth opened with a 57-7 win at Stockton and are regarded as one of the favourites for the Regional 2 North title.
The general impression left by that opening display for Carlisle was that some tough lessons needed to be learned but they need to convert a good solid scrum into territorial advantage and will have to be a little more streetwise.
The defence was outstanding especially when briefly down to 12 men, and the new league debutants, Ollie Burns, Alfie Batty, Freddie Rawling, Jamie Blakely and Nat Mossop didn’t look out of place at all.
There are lessons to learn, much to improve on, but certainly potential for new coach George Graham to work with for the rest of the season.
Morpeth outclassed Stockton in that opening game so it will be interesting to see how Stockton follow up in Cumbria.
Their second game is at Aspatria, which also happens to be the Black Reds second at Bower Park. But they lost the first 31-18 to a very good Middlesbrough side – fancied to be among the leading lights with Morpeth.
Boro are a team with a formidable blend of youth and experience, several of their number have played at higher levels of the game and this proved to be a decisive factor.
Aspatria’s second half showing rightly earned plaudits from home supporters. The revival signposted better things to come in future games but on this day a ruthless first half performance by Middlesbrough was simply too much to overcome.
Penrith started with a good home win over Durham City but are expecting more of a test at Percy Park.
They squeezed home 26-22 at Northern in what had been sign-posted as the match of the day in Regional 2 North.
Penrith weren’t entirely pleased with their performance on the day but it was pointed out to them if they continued to work hard and get all the little things right they would be a force to be reckoned with.
It finished 48-17 which might suggest an excellent Penrith performance and an easy win but that was far from the case, for more than half the game Durham City were in the contest.
Keswick are the fourth county side in the same League and they did particularly well to beat Consett 22-10 after being all square at the break.
It was the Keswick defence which was a key to the victory. and their ability to break effectively provided them with the points required for victory.
They will have noted Durham City’s performance at Penrith – there might even have been conversation between the respective coaches – because that’s where Keswick will be travelling.
This will be the first time for many years that Keswick have travelled to the north east for a game and are very much looking forward to it.
The Counties Cumbria 1 fixtures are: Creighton v Cockermouth; Penrith II v St Benedict’s; Millom v Upper Eden; Hawcoat Park v Whitehaven and Egremont v Workington.
