Aspatria extended their winning streak to five games with a 24-21 win over Morpeth at Bower Park.
It was thanks to a late, late show that thrilled the home crowd and saw Aspatria snatch the win in the last seconds.
This game would not rank as one of the great contests seen at Bower Park, not even close, but in terms of drama the last few minutes have rarely been bettered.
Within five minutes of the starting whistle, Aspatria had wasted two decent chances to open the scoring.
The culprits were a lost line-out deep in Morpeth territory and then a botched attempt to take a quick tap penalty, awarded dead in front of the posts.
In the same time frame, one positive had emerged and that was the edge provided by the home side’s powerful set scrum.
With the game hitting 15 minutes a pattern had emerged. Aspatria continued to show greater intent in the attack stakes with no tangible result whilst Morpeth had yet to launch anything resembling a meaningful attack. But against the run of play, the visitors were about to break the impasse.
Around the 20-minute mark Morpeth took advantage of a penalty award to attempt a kick from around halfway. It was well-struck for three points and a few minutes later an even more difficult penalty kick was also successful.
Morpeth now 6-0 ahead began to look a far better side than their early play indicated and at last moved into the Aspatria half, probing the home defence.
The home team’s efforts to open their account became far fewer but as halftime approached they had a golden chance to take the lead.
From a defensive scrum in the home 22, number eight Matthew Atkinson broke down the blind side shrugging off tackles.
Atkinson closed to within 15 metres of the try line but as the defence recovered composure he could not get the ball away to a support runner.
It all ended in a bit of a mess and as Morpeth escaped worse news for Aspatria was that scrum half Mark Watson received a yellow card for an illegal tackle.
The second half began with Morpeth having to withstand an early onslaught from Aspatria. The pressure was maintained for a full five minutes and it seemed a score must follow.
Aspatria were in despair when Morpeth not only escaped the mini siege but used it to travel all the way downfield to score a converted try. It was a try that owed much to good luck, with the move looking likely to break down on several occasions.
Morpeth could not care less as they increased the lead to 13-0.
Aspatria quickly struck back using their trusted scrum weapon. From the set piece deep in the visitors 22, the scrum moved forward and Atkinson flew off the back, heading to the line.
Morpeth effectively countered but Atkinson had Watson on his shoulder to take over and dot down.
It was a setback for Morpeth but they were still playing with confidence and a short period of well-structured movement, following a quick tap penalty in the home 22, delivered a second try and restored the 13 point gap.
The game was now well into the final quarter with time trickling away for Aspatria.
On 64 minutes home hopes rose again. Another scrum close to the try line, this time Morpeth were waiting to ambush Atkinson’s charge.
Aspatria had to go through several phases close to the line before a dart from prop Jack Gaskell provided a much needed score.
No more than ten minutes were left for Aspatria to turn this game on its head. This did not appear likely as
Morpeth used another penalty to take the score out to 21-10.
It was getting tense and a fracas broke out between the players just as Aspatria were about to use a penalty and move play deep into Morpeth territory.
The result was Aspatria’s Alex Barton going to the bin accompanied by his Morpeth protagonist and crucially the penalty reversed.
The final whistle began to close in on Aspatria, the magic had not yet happened and frankly seemed unlikely to do so but what a grandstand finish was in store.
The first piece in the jigsaw seemed to have fallen into place with five minutes remaining when the Morpeth number eight received a yellow card. For Aspatria it was obvious that his absence must weaken the home scrum.
A penalty scrum was set and the result was predictable as it marched to the line. The scrum was halted by Morpeth but at the cost of another penalty. Surely the next scrum must provide a vital score but inexplicably Aspatria tried and failed with a quick tap and go.
No more than three minutes left and it looked as if Aspatria had lost hope of even a consolation losing bonus point when, at last, the back division came alive with a blistering move that covered the full width of the pitch.
Centre Zak Olstrum, when he came into possession, still had defenders in front of him but he danced through some tired tackling for a superb converted score.
It was now 17-21 and deep into any time that the referee added. Morpeth were on the ropes from the restart but only had to get Aspatria to make one single error and it would all be over.
Two successive penalties were conceded and each of these allowed Aspatria to move up-field. The line-out worked perfectly with second row Riley Thwaites putting in a tremendous effort to ensure Aspatria secured the ball.
The play went open, the players knew it as did those in the crowd, this was the last play of the game.
No mistakes allowed but Aspatria’s ball retention hit a new level of excellence as they probed a tiring Morpeth defence.
There was little finesse when centre Ryan Scott came onto the ball about eight or so metres out from the posts. His only intention was to bludgeon his way over the line and this he did perfectly to hand Aspatria victory with not a second left on the clock.
