Keswick made their longest away trip of the season to South Shields for what was a crucial game for both.
They are both in a similar position in Regional Two North battling to avoid the bottom two relegation places.
That was reflected in the game which finished 19-17 to South Shields but Keswick returned home knowing that it was a game they should have won.
Unlike the week before against Stockton the rugby gods conspired against Keswick and although victory was deserved it was not achieved.
The match had started very brightly for the Lakes team as they dominated possession for the first 20 minutes. They applied constant pressure in the South Shields half but struggled to convert this to points.
After a missed penalty chance Kieran Mewse produced a bit of individual magic with a chip over the top and followed-up to collect for the try which gave Keswick an early lead.
This score seemed to galvanise the South Shields team who quickly replied with a well-worked converted try to take the lead.
At this point South Shields took charge of the game and before half-time managed another score to lead 14-5 at the break.
After the half-time talk from coaches and captain Keswick stepped-up a gear but completely against the run of play, and following a bizarre decision, South Shields were awarded a penalty for offside close to the Keswick line.
A quick tap by the scrum-half saw him cross the line to extend the lead.
From then on it was all Keswick with hard-working forwards Grant Reid, Mark Trow and Aaron Thompson well supported by James Hinckley making good ground.
Stephen Moss also led from the front as the pace picked up. In the back row Lance Lake worked like a Trojan and was rightly awarded man of the match after the game.
Followng good work by the pack in their own half, Ryan Weir made an outstanding individual break covering more than 50 metres and beating five defenders to score a spectacular try.
The conversion was missed but Keswick knew the chances would come and continued to press.
As the clock ran down continued Keswick pressure gave busy scrum half Jack Thompson the opportunity to break close to the forward pack to score under the posts to bring the score to 19 points to 17.
Keswick then threw everything at South Shields trying to go for the win. A long-range penalty effort by Mewse from the halfway line only just missed.
Then an excellent break by Aaron Thompson, offloading to Hinckley was only stopped when the ball was knocked out of Hinckley‘s hands by a defender as he stormed towards the line.
The last kick of the game was a penalty attempt from over 40 metres out by Mewse which agonisingly hit the post before the referee blew the final whistle.
Keswick entertain league leaders Morpeth this Saturday at home, kick-off 2pm.
