A late flurry of activity from Aspatria threatened to derail Durham City at the very time the visitors looked to be easing a pathway to victory.
In the final few moments Durham did well to hold their nerve to close out the 17-23 victory and deny Aspatria what would have been an astonishing comeback.
Aspatria had to settle for a well-deserved losing bonus point and rue the fact that they really only moved into top gear in the final quarter of this Regional Two North game.
The single point earned may prove invaluable at the end of the season and for now keeps Aspatria clear of the relegation zone.
From the kick-off Durham City enjoyed a prolonged period of possession inside the Aspatria half, without doing any damage to a tight home defence.
The first try scored by the visitors came after 10 minutes and owed a little too good fortune.
The starting point was a scrum in the home 22. The Aspatria pack destroyed their opposite numbers and it was only a mad scramble that saved possession for Durham.
It was messy and the ensuing confusion seemed to wrong foot the Aspatria defence as Durham’s back line realigned and found a gap to lead with a converted try.
From the re-start Aspatria started to put pressure on the Durham defence but could not find a way through and took a common sense decision to get on the score board with a Jack Clegg penalty.
If the first Durham try owed a little to luck the second showed they really did not need any such favours.
The action started around halfway with a successful Durham scrum. After this it was just regulation but very efficient handling that moved the ball to the Aspatria line.
It was good rugby from them that provided the 14-3 lead but the Aspatria coaching team would have been correct to expect a much more committed defensive effort from the Black Reds.
Into the second quarter and Aspatria were getting a more even share of the ball. Unfortunately, a series of self-inflicted handling errors helped Durham resist any threat of a comeback try.
The bright spot for home supporters was the performance of the team at set scrums where they were completely in control.
The dividend from this arrived on 36 minutes. Durham went down to 14 men as an increasingly desperate defence fell foul of the referee.
When Aspatria elected to use the penalty for a five metre scrum there was only going to be one outcome as the home pack moved unstoppably to the line and number eight Stuart Creighton dotted down.
At half time Durham still held a 14-10 advantage but the game was well balanced. Only three minutes into the second half the visitors extended their lead with a penalty.
This was a positive start for them and on 50 minutes it seemed to home supporters that they had added another seven points to the gap. A well-disciplined forward surge carried Durham under the posts and over the try line. Durham claimed the try with Aspatria countering this with an argument that the ball had been dislodged.
The referee was not in a position to see the grounding and in the circumstances judged in favour of Aspatria.
Despite the score being disallowed Durham retained decent field position and minutes after their disappointment did add a further three points with a penalty.
With the score at 20-10 the game moved into the final quarter and at this stage Durham seemed to have a grip on the end result.
To this point the home back division had not been at its creative best but the deeper the game went the more Aspatria began to threaten.
At times it was hectic stuff and a calmer approach might have produced more positive results.
With ten minutes remaining Aspatria re-discovered their attacking flair and looked capable of at least grabbing a losing bonus point. What happened next not only justified this ambition but came close to turning the game on its head.
Only four minutes of the game remained and Durham appeared to have seen off a final flurry of Aspatria attack and moved down field to threaten a score.
With backs to the wall, Aspatria managed to diffuse a charge at the line and regain possession. They had no option but to run the ball and home supporters were left amazed when left wing Grant Bethwaite flew rounded his opposite number and set off on a length of the field sprint with several Durham flyers in pursuit.
Bethwaite had the gas and rounded of the try, under the posts and the conversion left them trailing by three points. Nerves on both sides were now jangling. Crucially, Aspatria lost possession at the kick off and in a vain attempt to regain the ball conceded a penalty.
This was converted by Durham to open up a six point gap and use up a valuable minute or so.
Still time to restart and Aspatria were on the rampage, desperate for a try that might draw or even win the game. It really did take a fine defensive effort from Durham to stop the onslaught and finally boot the ball into touch to signal the final whistle.
