It would be an easy ‘out’ for Aspatria to blame a 29-8 home defeat to Middlesbrough on two controversial incidents.
Both took place within sight of the first quarter coming to an end and the score at nil-all. But this would be an unfair interpretation of events and not one the home team would support.
Over the full course of the game Middlesbrough earned the victory through well drilled defence and an ability to take their chances when they came.
In the course of this they produced some of the best support play seen at Bower Park this season.
The biggest of the blows to Aspatria’s ambitions came on 15 minutes with the sending off of scrum half Alex Barton. It was undoubtedly a result of robust play by Barton but neither team reacted.
Indeed both stood in near silence as the referee deemed Barton guilty of violent conduct, and if it was so then the red card was the correct decision.
Play, up to the red card, had been relatively even but moments later a flowing move started by Boro in their half delivered the opening score.
In addition to sharp passing the movement also appeared to contain a knock-on and a forward pass. Both were spotted by Aspatria supporters but not the referee. A superb conversion from the touchline, in testing conditions, followed to give Boro a 7-0 lead.
The two incidents referred too did have an impact on the game but not the overall result.
Aspatria played a solid game and enjoyed more than enough of the ball in the Boro 22 to close the gap. The problem was waving the magic wand that turns possession into points.
Being down to 14 men did not lower Aspatria’s ambitions. Back-row, Phil Dixon went over the line for the home side on 22 minutes but was held up.
Dixon’s effort kick-started a sustained period of assault by Aspatria, in and around the Boro 22 but the visiting defence held-up well and denied Aspatria a try.
With a few minutes remaining in the half Aspatria opted for a penalty from Matty Irving to close the gap to 7-3.
With half-time close Boro had moved the ball back into Aspatria territory and from a line-out were able to regain possession and take advantage of some below-par tackling from Aspatria to set-up a charge over the line and a 12-3 lead.
With nothing much left on the clock Aspatria mustered one final attack. It was superb work by centre Heinie Jonker to burst through a closing defence and take the ball to the 22 but yet again Boro’s defence held, although at the expense of a yellow card.
Into the second half and at this stage the end result remained in the balance.
That was until Boro scored two quick tries to make certain of a full five-point victory.
Both the scores came from good movement up-field with the running ball carrier, when tackled, having a choice of options as team-mates moved into support positions.
It was a bit of whirlwind but with 55 minutes played Aspatria found themselves 24-3 down.
Boro went back down to 14 men on 60 minutes courtesy of a second yellow card and this provided a lift for Aspatria, with a try following. The score was an excellent effort by left winger Grant Bethwaite.
Coming into possession around 35 metres out, Bethwaite eluded the cover defence and his pace took him around the final defender to give Aspatria a consolation score.
With 10 minutes remaining it was Aspatria who looked the more dangerous of the teams. They were hammering the Boro line.
Penalties were being conceded and Aspatria used these to mount direct assaults on the try line. Hats off to the Boro defence who rebuffed each effort with nothing more than inches to spare.
Aspatria, in throwing everything into attack, paid a late price. The home side’s efforts had left its own defence out of position and Boro were quick to exploit the space offered in a final attack up-field.
It was a fine score whose success, yet again, owed much to the numerous support runners who simply outnumbered those in defence.
Aspatria certainly put in the graft demanded by the coaching team but on this day Middlesbrough showed that clinical finishing is the key to grabbing wins.
Despite the loss Aspatria finish the league programme in 5th position and when the dust settles that will be seen as a commendable outcome in what is a highly competitive league.
