It wasn’t one for the connoisseurs but Keswick’s 14-6 win over Aspatria was of enormous importance in the context of the Regional Two North table.
It was Keswick’s second win of the campaign but the defeat leaves Aspatria rock bottom without a point to their name.
Keswick have the same agenda as Aspatria this season and that is to consolidate a position within a very competitive league and to have eight points on the board so far has been pleasing.
Aspatria have started the season with four defeats but this latest one at the hands of local rivals Keswick will be, by far, the hardest to accept.
The quality of the home defence ultimately handed Keswick a hard earned victory in a game where the end result was in doubt to within minutes of the final whistle.
Pitch conditions and a greasy ball saw an error-strewn first half with Aspatria dominating possession and Keswick defending as if their lives depended on it.
Keswick conceded a number of penalties allowing Aspatria to make ground as they continued to persist with forward drives.
The conditions dictated that this would be a low scoring game. It was no surprise that with only eight minutes played Aspatria opted to use a penalty for a shot at goal.
The kick was hit well enough by veteran, Steven Stoddart who was a late addition to Aspatria’s starting line-up, but it drifted wide.
Stoddart was brought in because Aspatria were short of some regular backs and ultimately it was the lack of penetration in that area which contributed to their defeat.
The stalemate continued with Keswick’s defence organised well enough to hold out Aspatria who at this stage were shading the possession stats. A forward maul stopped close to the try line was as near Aspatria would come to breaking this early deadlock.
On 16 minutes Keswick manufactured a good opportunity to take the lead. A series of probing forward attacks pressurised the try line but Aspatria were able to counter effectively and ultimately a lack of patience by the home side let them off the hook.
One area of play would please the Aspatria coaching team and this was the dominance of their scrum. Keswick had a torrid day at the set piece but even going backwards were able to maintain possession.
With 30 minutes gone the game was developing into a midfield slug fest which was far from entertaining for the sizeable crowd who turned out for the game. Around this point Aspatria did take the lead as Jack Clegg took a penalty and established a slender advantage for the visitors which they had at the break.
Almost straight from the second half kick-off Keswick finally secured decent possession and they made it pay.
Ryan Weir set off on a mazy, arcing run to the line for what was an excellent finish and Billy Thompson converted to give Keswick a 7-3 lead.
Penalties conceded by Keswick helped Aspatria establish attacking positions but close to the try line that vital spark eluded the visitors and ultimately they had to settle for a second Clegg penalty to close the gap to a point.
The game then followed a similar pattern to the first half with Keswick making occasional breakouts and Aspatria persisting with driving play.
Outstanding defence led by captain George Holme and driving play fronted by Mark Trow kept Keswick’s noses in front, as well as inexplicable decision-making by Aspatria not to kick for goal when presented with the opportunity to do so.
Keswick kept on defending and managed some turnovers. From one of these a break by Grant Reid and fast recycled ball moved the home side up the field and a slick handling move saw Billy Thompson dive over for a well worked try which he converted to go to 14-6.
Although Aspatria finished with a flourish they perhaps should have used at least one of the two penalties awarded to them in the dying moments of the game to secure a losing bonus point. In both cases they ran the ball but each time came up against that Keswick defence which in the final analysis delivered victory for the home side.
Keswick had defended heroically to see out the game for a welcome win.
