Cumbria made a triumphant return to the rugby league arena with a thoroughly deserved 28-12 victory over Jamaica at Derwent Park.
A crowd estimated at 3,000 saw Cumbria, playing their first game for 11 years, dominate the second-half after they had turned round all square.
They scored 16 unanswered points as they raised their intensity levels and Jamaica seemed to tire in the testing conditions.
Cumbria scored five tries to their opponents two in this warm-up game before Jamaica start their World Cup campaign next weekend.
Jamaica had played their best rugby in the opening quarter when Ash Golding was controlling the game for them and they deservedly went ahead on 10 minutes.
Golden was at the heart of the build-up which ended with Bradford second-rower AJ Wallace crashing over for an unconverted try.
But it only took six minutes for Cumbria to hit back and after Jamie Doran had gone close skipper Kyle Amor ducked low and barged over from close range. Barrow’s Jake Carter put over the conversion.
Jamaica regained the lead after 23 minutes when Kieran Tomlinson put in a great break, again after good work by Golding and James Woodburn-Hall crossed for a try which Kieran Rush converted for a 10-6 lead.
They had the opportunity to build on that as Tom Walker was sent to the sin bin but lost some of their direction when Golding went off with an injury.
It was, in fact, Cumbria who scored next to regain the lead on 32 minutes. The Barrow partnership of Jake Carter and Ryan Johnston was involved as Carter put in the kick and Johnson was first there to make the touchdown before the ball went dead. Jake Carter converted.
The final action of the half, however, was a penalty by Rush to send the teams into the dressing room all square.
The second-half, however, belonged to Cumbria from the moment they took the lead again a minute after the restart. A fast, flowing move saw Andrew Bulman burst down the touchline and he had Whitehaven team-mate Curtis Teare on his inside to take the pass and score with Jake Carter converting.
Jamaica were very much on the back foot throughout the second half and rarely got as far as playing their rugby in the Cumbria 20.
Brett Carter almost got on the score-sheet but lost the ball as he dived for the line and Walker was held up when he tried to get over.
Jamaica defended with spirit and grittily until the 65th minute when Tee Ritson got the chance to show his electric pace as he raced clear, finishing off with his trade-mark acrobatic dive. It was his 34th try in all competitions this season.
The final try came nine minutes from the end when Jake Carter, later confirmed as man of the match, threw a mesmerising dummy to stroll over for the touchdown which he converted.
