Keswick 2nds and Aspatria Eagles are new to Counties 1 Cumbria this season – and when they met it proved a cracker.
It finished 37-33 to Aspatria to maintain their unbeaten record.
A credit to both teams It did not seem that there would be such a tense climax to the contest with Keswick looking the stronger side as they ran up a 25-8 lead in the first half hour of play.
Keswick had opened explosively following a line-out throw just after the kick-off. Grant Reid set the tone of the match going forward past several unaware defenders, and a penalty later Keswick were over the try line through Olly Dunn.
When Aspatria mounted their first attack Keswick’s lapse in discipline allowed them a kickable penalty and Steven Stoddart obliged.
A line-out inside the Keswick half followed by a catch and drive secured Aspatria’s first try.
Keswick were responded quickly again from a line-out when they worked the ball through hands to Ned Barnes who scored and Ben Clark converted.
The home side kept the pressure on with Clark finding his way over himself for a well-deserved team try. He added the conversion.
Josh Clark was next on the score-sheet when he barged through the centre and again the conversion was good.
Aspatria reduced the arrears before half-time with two tries, one of which was converted to leave the half-time score-line 28-20 to Keswick.
Keswick had a few ropey opening minutes at the start of the second half but survived before winning a scrum in their 22.
A nice pick and go followed by an offload gave Liam Quail the space and his pace let him in for a near full length try, which Clark converted.
A silly challenge at a ruck put Keswick down to 14 men with a yellow card. As a result Aspatria looked to go wide to take advantage of their extra man and they were able to reduce the arrears again with a converted try.
Both sides worked back and forth up the pitch playing open rugby for a scoreless 15 minutes. Then Aspatria cashed-in on mistakes by Keswick and got in wide-out to take the lead by a point.
The last score of the game was a Stoddart penalty for Aspatria to give them a four-point cushion at the final whistle.
Again a few mistakes gifted Aspatria with a penalty kick to extend their lead and end the game 33-37.
Defence had become key for Aspatria after Keswick’s flying start with Mark Irwin and Harry Royal leading the way with a series of outstanding tackles.
This kept Aspatria in the game and allowed time for the Aspatria scum to achieve an element of dominance.
The line=out provided another plus point for the visitors. Dickie Miller and Cam Steele took all their own ball, helped by Mark Beverley when he entered the game in the second half.
Keswick continued to play with spirit and determination and Aspatria were thankful to get several refereeing decisions go for them as the game gradually turned in their favour.
Late into the game, it seemed every time Keswick threatened the red zone something went Aspatria’s way and let them off the hook.
Aspatria gradually clawed back Keswick’s scoreboard advantage to clinch the result.
The try scorers were a brace each from David Wilson and Stu Creighton. Plus a special mention for Joe Humes who finished off a tremendous back move for a fifth score of the day. His record of scoring in every game remains intact.
Team Captain Steve Stoddart had a significant influence on the game.
His boot was often key to clearing the Eagles lines and keeping the ball in opposition territory. Equally, important Stoddart was also responsible for adding 12 points with two penalties and three conversions.
Man of the match was Luke Johnson who also created many good clearances when needed.
Sadly, the Eagles lost Jak Lee in the first few minutes with a broken collar bone. This is really hard on Jak, in his first full game back after a bad arm break last season.
