Carlisle picked up another four try bonus point in their latest Regional 2 North clash – but significantly no first win of the season.
A 37-28 home defeat by Stockton, who themselves are fighting to avoid relegation, was the third game in a row in which Carlisle have collected a point for scoring enough tries.
But the elusive win remained just out of reach and with just six games left the city side look doomed to relegation.
Stockton at home was certainly one they needed to win and they started well, putting the visitors under a lot of pressure from the off.
They couldn’t score, though, and when Stockton were allowed a very quick tap penalty inside their half, their scrum half raced away unopposed with no-one from Carlisle able to prevent the try.
Carlisle recovered well enough and some sustained pressure gave Jason Israel an easy three pointer in front of the posts to reduce the deficit.
Stockton restored their seven point lead a few minutes later with a high tackle giving Stockton a kickable penalty on Carlisle’s 22m line.
Carlisle continued to maintain the pressure on the visitors and a five metre scrum from a wayward back pass out of touch by Stockton gave the hosts the chance for a try on 14 minutes.
Whilst no 8 Lloyd Clark was initially repulsed, the ball was picked up by scrum half Vince Lung from the back of the ruck and past the reaches of their number eight to score Carlisle’s first try converted by Israel.
Carlisle got their second just before the half hour mark, as they continued to put the visitors defence under pressure.
Alfie Batty was held up in the left corner after a break down the wing by Lung. The restart was gathered up by Carlisle and with a knock on giving them a five metre scrum, Clark eventually got his rewards by going over next to the upright. Israel again converted for a 17-10 lead.
Carlisle had a lucky escape as an infringement on their 22 gave Stockton a kickable penalty, which came back off the upright, and eventually they managed to clear the danger away.
With the clock ticking down towards the end of the first half, it looked like Carlisle would take a slender lead into the break.
Their increasing penalty count was to be their downfall, as a penalty on half way gave them an eight metre line-out to defend and a warning from the referee.
Stockton drove for the line, and though defended by Carlisle, it was adjudged illegally by the referee, and Israel took a yellow card for the team. Immediately Stockton used the extra man to crash over under the posts to level the scores at 17-17 on the stroke of half time.
After the break, Carlisle appeared to weather the loss well, and were pressing Stockton hard on their line, until a loose ball was gathered up by the visitors and they shot down the park deep into Carlisle territory before being stopped.
Carlisle were still trying to get back in numbers as Stockton flooded the defence and with numbers out wide on the right, they were over for their third try in short measure.
Stockton got their bonus point try on 56 minutes, as they stole a line-out, worked the ball across the park and their fly half kicked a massive 50:22 to give them a five metre line-out on the right.
They made quick work of turning that into a driving maul to crash over for the fourth try and a 29-17 lead.
A few minutes later, Carlisle reduced the arrears as a line-out on the Stockton 22 gave them a chance for a driving maul, right up to the try line. Although initially defended by the visitors, the ball was worked right for Tom Graham out on the wing to dot down for Carlisle’s third and back to a seven point deficit.
The referee went down injured after the hour mark, but after some treatment he was able to carry on.
Carlisle continued to press forward but too often coughed up the ball or committed an infringement at the breakdown for Stockton to clear their lines.
On the hour mark Stockton were able to kick deep into Carlisle territory and a subsequent infringement on the 22, gave Stockton another three points from the penalty kick.
From the re-start Carlisle were looking to break back and a kick out of defence by Stockton gave them a fortunate penalty from an accidental offside.
This gave them further territory deep in the Carlisle half, and they eventually worked the ball across the park into the left corner to go over for their fifth try with around five minutes to go, and a 37-22 lead.
Carlisle didn’t give up and the last five minutes or so of the game were spent deep in Stockton territory looking for a score, which they eventually got.
Captain Josh Holmes crashed over at the death for Carlisle’s try bonus point, converted by Israel.
