Carlisle showed they need not be frightened of what lies ahead next season after promotion from Counties 1 Cumbria.
They will be facing up to Aspatria then and they shocked the Black Reds at Warwick Road with a deserved 14-8 win in the semi-final of the County Cup.
It means they will tackle Penrith, the holders, in the final and on the evidence of this performance they should not be afraid.
The home side were well organised throughout the contest and absorbed, with something to spare any challenges Aspatria could muster.
Aspatria operate in higher league than Carlisle and by virtue of this started favourites for this tie but in the face of Carlisle’s determination and grit the Black Reds produced an error strewn performance that never looked good enough to derail home ambitions.
Carlisle’s intensity was on show from the first minute when they turned down a kickable penalty to go deep into the Aspatria 22. The move did not pay off but it was a sign of things to come.
Another early pointer came with the second scrum of the day. Aspatria have rarely taken a backward step this season but Carlisle were able to put them into reverse gear.
Around 15 minutes into the game it was clear that this was going to be a low scoring arm wrestle. Carlisle went down to 14 for a ruck infringement but Aspatria could not wring any advantage from this.
Attacks were exchanged in equal proportion but there was an underlying feeling that when Carlisle had the ball they provided a greater threat.
Closing in on 30 minutes Carlisle had Aspatria on the rack. It was sustained pressure aided by a series of penalties conceded by the visitors. It took a good deal of resolve from Aspatria to keep Carlisle at bay and the score at nil all.
In the defensive effort Aspatria went down to 14 men with winger Ross Barton yellow carded for an illegal tackle.
Justice was swiftly served as a line-out on the left resulted in a series of pick and gos, and it was almost inevitable that Josh Holmes would be the one to find the gap, and go over by the posts for Carlisle’s first try,
With the whistle looming it looked likely that Carlisle would take a 7-0 lead into the second half. On the balance of play Aspatria would have taken that, hoping to resolve their problems during the interval.
In the event the gap came down to a mere two points. Carlisle were too slow to clear the ball out of defence. The kick was charged down by Aspatria second row Riley Thwaites and the ball rebounded across the try line where Grant Bethwaite won the race to dot down.
Into the second half and there was another positive start from Carlisle. Just a few minutes in they tested the visitors defence right across the 22 until ruck ball out left seemed to have sucked in the defenders.
A quick pass out to hooker Tom Graham saw him produce a glorious side step to beat the clutches of the last defender, then dash 15 metres to extend the Carlisle lead with Israel’s conversion making it 14-5.
Aspatria were now chasing the game and their error count began to mount. It was not until the 65th minutes mark that Aspatria began to make an impression on the Carlisle defence.
Much of the go forward was now being provided by forwards Greg Dickinson and Tom Gardner who had come off the bench. Yet each time ground was made and the Carlisle line threatened, the ball was lost through below par execution. It was self-inflicted misery for Aspatria.
A late penalty from Matty Irving brought Aspatria back into contention at 14:8 and provided fleeting hope but nothing could be conjured up that looked like depriving Carlisle of their win.
Whilst the home support might have looked nervous about a six-point lead over a visiting side that had the potential to put a seven point score on the board, Carlisle played their hearts out.
You could see the determination written over their faces that the opposition were not getting past them again. Indeed Carlisle finished the stronger of the sides, camped in the Aspatria 22 when the referee blew for full time.
