Mirehouse is always a tough place to travel to, and Creighton’s chances were hampered by seven players testing positive for COVID in the days before the match.
In the end they put up a decent effort against St Benedict’s before going under 17-5 in their Counties 1 Cumbria clash.
The home side went ahead after 13 minutes from a quick tap penalty with centre Kurt Maudling going in and Jenson Olstrom converted.
Things became scrappy as the referee attempted to stamp his authority on proceedings. The first player to receive a yellow card was Gordon Maudling from St Benedict’s following a high tackle after 25 minutes. Shortly afterwards he was joined by team-mate James Stanaway, but this time the card was red.
Minutes later a further red card was produced, this time to Creighton flanker Sam Christie. Both the sendings off were also for high tackles and both looked harsh as there was no malicious intent on either occasion.
Benny’s then increased their lead with a penalty from Olstrom to go into the break with a 10-0 lead.
St Benedict’s scored a try early in the second half from Matthew Addison which Olstrom, who was playing his first game for the senior side, converted.
They were then reduced to 13 men when Gordon Maudling was shown a second yellow and had to walk.
Creighton came back into the match strongly. With no front row replacements, props Steve Rush and Dan Barker played a full 80 minutes, steadying the scrum and making yards with ball in hand.
They were well supported by second rows David Simpson and Alasdair Middleton.
In the backs Keenan Foster did well in the unaccustomed position of scrum half and Matt Rogers organised the backs well from stand-off.
In the dying minutes Steve Cotter crossed for Creighton to make the final score 17-5.
The referee had the final word in the last seconds as Cotter became the latest recipient of a yellow card for yet another high tackle.
Both sides agreed that it had not been a dirty game worthy of so many cards.
Benny’s were delighted to have Kurt Maudling back again after missing out through work commitments.
Also encouraging was the form of two 17-year-old debutants, Olstrom and Luca Hiddleston. Another teenager, Harvey Smith also had a strong game for the home side.
