In chaotic fashion Aspatria maintained their unbeaten home record with a 27-24 victory over West Hartlepool.
For the closing minutes of the game a flurry of yellow cards reduced the Black Reds to 12
players. In total Aspatria received 5 yellow cards during the game and this self-inflicted indiscipline came within a whisker of handing victory to Wests.
The start of the game was a complete contrast to the nail-biting finish that lay ahead. Within the first four minutes of the game Aspatria had twice crossed the try line and looked to be in complete command.
The first of the brace came straight from the kick off. Wests failed to control the high ball and conceded a scrum on the 22. Regulation stuff for Aspatria, with the ball being won easily and slung the width of the pitch where centre Matthew Irving beat the defence to go over.
The lead was increased to 12-0 with the next attack. Number eight Matthew Atkinson came into possession from the restart and galloped down field where the ball was transferred to centre Ryan Scott who made good ground before putting a kick behind the defence for Irving to run onto and touch down for his second.
Wests were quick to recover from a poor start to the game. Penalties conceded by Aspatria handed them a position deep in the home 22 and they used this to mount an attack down the left flank and take advantage of an undefended blindside to dot down for an unconverted try.
Aspatria extended their lead to 19-5 on 16 minutes with another perfectly executed move. Irving used a penalty to position the home pack in Wests 22. The line-out provided clean ball and an opportunity for the back division to rapidly move play to the opposite side of the field where right wing Zak Olstrum was waiting to dart over the line.
Despite Aspatria’s advantage on the scoreboard, the game became a very even contest and it was no surprise when Wests scored a second try. This began with an interception around half-way being followed up with a number of well controlled phases, eventually delivering the score and reducing the deficit to 19-10.
Before the interval both teams were able to generate good try scoring opportunities but at this stage defences remained on top.
With the game moving towards the 40 minute mark it became clear that the referee was becoming irked by the number of infringements being committed by Aspatria. The warning delivered to the Black Reds was most clear but as would become obvious the lesson was not learned.
At half-time Wests remained behind on the scoreboard but they had shown enough quality in the first 40 to suggest that they remained capable of achieving a positive result.
Aspatria struck first in the second period. A bonus point score and a second try for Olstrum. The flying winger had plenty still to do when he came into possession close to the right touchline, just inside Wests territory.
Pace took Olstrum past the first line of defence but then it was agile footwork and no lack of determination needed to blast through two closing defenders to touch down in the corner and give the home side a 24-10 advantage.
On 47 minutes the game turned in Wests favour. The first of Aspatria’s yellow cards was issued to stand-off Jack Clegg and the penalty was used to pressure the line. It took several attempts by Wests to overcome the home defence but their patience eventually paid off.
At 24-17 the end result of this game was definitely in the balance and on 57 minutes Aspatria used a penalty to extend the lead by a further three points and this would later prove to be a wise decision.
The game move towards the final 10 minutes with Wests beginning to dominate open play. The home penalty count was rising rapidly and alongside this came a flurry of yellow cards.
The Aspatria line was now constantly under pressure and it was no real surprise when the referee had little option but to award Wests a penalty try and reduce Aspatria’s advantage to a slender three points. All the ingredients were now available to ensure a nail-biting finish.
With the award of another penalty near enough in front of the posts the referee indicated that two minutes of play remained. At this stage Aspatria had only 12 men facing an intact Wests team. It seemed unlikely, even impossible that they would hold out. Wests might have considered taking an easy three points to secure a draw but with Aspatria in apparent disarray the temptation to chase a winning try proved too much.
A lineout in the home 22 gave Wests the perfect platform to attack Aspatria’s thin line of defence. It seemed the score must come as the back division attacked the outnumbered home defenders and yet it did not.
The wrong attacking option was taken and the ball spilled. Aspatria kicked clear but not very far. Under no pressure the catcher dropped the ball and a home scrum was sufficient to use up the remaining final few seconds.
The five points earned moves Aspatria up to a comfortable 4th in the table but the next visitors to Bower Park in two weeks are League leaders Percy Park who will provide a severe challenge to that unbeaten home run.
