Kendal and Leek fought out an entertaining North 1 West contest in Staffordshire with honours even after a 25-25 draw.
The home side had started strongly and there had to be some early disciplined defence from Kendal to keep them out.
It was somewhat against the run of play when Kendal broke out and when the won a penalty Aaron Stephens popped it over from nearly 40 metres.
Leek responded well and on 16 minutes they went ahead when they worked the ball wide and left winger Sam Brereton popped the ball down for an unconverted try.
Although Leek continued to enjoy plenty of pressure the Kendal defence was excellent and to add to their lead the hosts had to turn to kicker Wilf Midwinter to land a penalty.
Another Midwinter penalty extended the lead to 11-3 but before half-time Stephens and Midwinter exchanged penalties for a 14-6 scoreline at the break.
Kendal quickly conceded another penalty which Midwinter put over to extend the lead to eleven points.
But gradually Kendal were starting to make inroads through their forwards. After putting a kick to the corner the pack did the rest with power and patience for eventual man of the match Chris Evans to come up with the try which Stephens converted on 51 minutes.
Six minutes later Kendal scored again and were in front. This time it was Matt Houghton who got over from close range wide on the left and Stephens’ kick went narrowly past the upright.
Suddenly the game became an end-to-end affair and it was Leek who re-gained the lead when their forwards mauled their way over the line with hooker Ed Cheadle claiming the touchdown.
When Kendal were awarded a penalty soon afterwards they kicked to the corner. They won the line-out and after numerous phases Evans was forced over near the posts. And Stephens converted.
With 15 minutes left Kendal led 25-22 and what early on had seemed an unlikely win was within their grasp.
They actually got to the last minute when Leek were awarded a penalty and opted for the shot at goal which Midwinter successfully nailed to complete the draw.
