Keswick continued their climb away from Regional 2 North relegation trouble with a fine 13-12 win at Morpeth.
It was a well-deserved result by a squad who really came together on the day to seal the narrow win.
Keswick started well and took advantage of Morpeth’s early mistakes maintaining good field position and were rewarded after five minutes with a well-taken penalty from 35 metres out by Kieran Mewse.
Morpeth then came into the game and only strong Keswick defending kept them out, holding them up over their line. Morpeth continued to exert forward pressure with their vastly experienced pack boasting two British Police props but they were resolutely held by the Keswick pack.
A Keswick line-out on the Morpeth five metre line was lost but the kick out of defence was expertly taken by Dan Craghill. He linked with Olly Macpherson and second row Marky Trow and his expertly timed pass set Ryan Weir free for a well taken try.
A tricky conversion wide out was slotted by Mewse to give Keswick a 10-0 lead.
Morpeth battled back and the Keswick cause was dented when captain George Holme was sin-binned for an off the ball tackle.
During this period Morpeth hit back with a well worked cross field kick collected for them to score and unconverted try in the corner as the half closed with Keswick ahead 10-5.
Keswick hung on with 14 men and when restored to a full complement again transitioned out of defence very well to force a penalty. Mewse had no hesitation in striking it home from 43 metres to extend the lead to 13 5.
Morpeth responded as expected and immediately intense pressure produced a score through the forwards under the posts. It was converted to bring the hosts to within a point. With 20 minutes to go the game was evenly poised.
Keswick made some changes introducing Glen Weightman for his 1st team debut. It was a fantastic moment for the club and the Weightman family as his class and experience immediately shone.
Keswick didn’t hang on as they drove forward trying to close the game, but Morpeth showed why they pushed Penrith hard for the league title last season.
Excellent defence, particularly by Craghill and Macpherson, held the Keswick line and after a tense last five minutes Keswick were able to celebrate the victory.
