Although Cockermouth were beaten 47-10 at home by Percy Park in their second Regional 2 North game, the scoreline was not a fair reflection of the action.
There was encouragement for the Cockermouth coaching team that there had certainly been progress from the opening fixture a week previous.
For the first 25 minutes the home side matched the impressive Percy Park in every department. In fact it was the water break in the intense heat which rather broke the Cockermouth momentum – and they never got it back.
They had opened by taking the lead with a Dan Woodcock penalty before conceding a penalty and an unconverted try.
They hit back to take the lead with a try under the posts by Ed Gate which was converted by Woodcock but two penalties gave Percy Park a 14-10 advantage at the water break.
By half-time they had scored another converted try and in the second-half the Wasps gifted early position for them to score again and they never recovered from there.
Coach Chris Wright said: “We are seeing how clinical teams are at this level and unfortunately the away team scored points on the back of our mistakes and didn’t score from our chances, which was the difference between the two sides.
“We still have many experienced players to return to the squad which will help but our young lads coming in, such as Joe Palmer and Max Walker are doing an excellent job.
“The team as a whole were out on their feet at the end of the game and we can’t ask any more than that.
“Adam Brough and Ant Davies had stand-out games up front and Ben Irving was a constant threat at inside centre.”
