Upper Eden boosted their Regional 2 North survival hopes with a 27-12 win at already relegated Cockermouth.
It was an excellent performance by the Pennine Park men against a determined Cockermouth side in dreadful playing conditions.
Indeed it was Cockermouth who made the better start as they dominated the opening 20 minutes of the match.
Without a win so far the Wasps players have worked really hard at improving their attacking shape, as ultimately their lack of points has cost them dearly this season.
So for the first quarter they put Upper Eden under a lot of pressure as the home players were much more composed and built phases really well.
Once more, however, a number of tries were left out on the pitch and when captain Ant Davies scored a try, converted by Jamie Preston there were hopes that more would follow.
But gradually Upper Eden worked themselves back into the game to frustrate the home side and this was aided by some bad home discipline
For their part Eden lost Rob Dent with a facial injury from a head collision, and Sam Edgar was given a yellow card for a knock on while trying to intercept the ball out wide.
Eden needed some excellent defending, with James Birkbeck prominent and ably supported by the evergreen Dave Birkbeck to keep it at 7-0.
However the introduction of John Blue had an immediate impact on the game from the base of the scrum and in loose play. Blue gathered a loose ball and made good ground to feed Tom Mooney to cross for Eden’s
The Pennine Park men were now settled after a frantic first 30 minutes and were starting to dominate the set scrums and line-out with Issac Dent prominent in the air on his own and opponent’s ball.
It stayed 7-7 at the interval but from the restart Eden were quick on the attack and a charge down by the ever-mobile Sanderson was gathered by the Eden forwards and the ball was quickly recycled and fed to Will Birkbeck to drive over for Eden’s second try which was unconverted.
Cockermouth came back at the visitors and again Eden’s defence was solid with good work in the midfield from Sam Birkbeck, Alexander Darroch, ably orchestrated and supported by Rupert Civil.
Dave Birkbeck was quick to turnover a Cockermouth attack on halfway and the ball was moved wide for Eden to make good ground into the heart of the host’s defence.
When they were awarded a scrum on the five-metre line, Blue collected at the base of the set piece and drove down the blindside to score the third try for a 17-7 lead.
The weather deteriorated making ball retention even more difficult for both sides. A Cockermouth attack was thwarted at the breakdown by the ever-present Will Birkbeck supported by Sam Birkbeck and George Johnstone.
Eden were awarded a penalty from a dominant scrum and they moved the ball wide to Edgar who took the ball into the heart of the hosts defence. The ball was recycled and driven up the centre of the park by Sam Birkbeck who fed his older brother James to crash over for the bonus point try, which was converted by Ollie Bennett.
The Wasps didn’t didn’t give up and to their credit came back strongly. With some expansive rugby which led to a good support try from Ollie Swain. He had backed up great work from Ben Irving down the right hand side.
The home team put several phases of play together and entered the Eden 22, where it needed an excellent strip tackle and clearance from Darrach to nullify the attack.
The Wasps launched several attacks on the Eden line but excellent defence and discipline from the Pennine Park men won them a penalty at the breakdown enabling them to take play up to halfway.
Blue broke from a scrum and neatly fed Rose who transferred the ball down the line for Edgar to cross for Edens fifth and final try.
The Upper Eden man of the match was awarded to Tom Mooney.
There were good performances from a number of players but number eight Liam McAvoy was excellent in attack and defence and took the MoM award.
McAvoy, the former Workington, Newcastle and Whitehaven RL forward has retired from pro rugby to concentrate on union with Cockermouth and also his new role as player coach of Cockermouth Titans, the amateur RL side.
