Kells moved to fifth place in the National Conference Premier Division with a 24-4 home win over bottom side Lock Lane.
The Castleford outfit have just appointed a new coach so were expected to be keen to impress him but Kells had too much for them.
Peter Smith, the head coach said: “Irrespective of their League position it was always going to be a tough game and it was. We managed to restrict them to one try so defensively we were tight.
“I thought we were a bit loose with the ball early on but we saw it through for the win.”
Tries by Mason Lewthwaite and James Ennis in the first 14 minutes set Kells well on their way and conversions from Dom Wear helped the hosts into a 12-0 lead before Lock Lane scored an unconverted try before the break.
It stayed that way until the final quarter when Kells added further tries from Ryan Starkie and Clarke Chambers, again improved by Wear.
Sadly, there was an unsavoury end to the game. Lock Lane’s Charlie Muir was sin-binned four minutes from time for a late hit while at the end one of their officials was red carded for questioning the integrity of the referee.
Kells were the only Cumbrian winners in the top flight as their local neighbours both lost to the Premier Division’s top two sides.
Egremont went down 22-0 at home to leaders Siddal while Wath Brow went under 34-6 at second in the table West Hull.
Rhys Davies, the Egremont coach said: “We just got taught a lesson in how crucial a high completion rate is in rugby.
“We gave too much ball away with errors and ultimately paid he price. The effort is there from the lads as we competed the whole game. We just can’t afford to turn over so much ball.”
Two tries in the last ten minutes of the first half helped the visitors into a 10-0 half-time lead. It stayed that way until ten minutes from time when Siddal scored again and they wrapped up the victory with a fourth try in the dying seconds.
Wath Brow conceded first at West Hull but looked to be making a good contest of it when Josh McConnell scored a try on 26 minutes which Cole Walker-Taylor converted to put the sides level.
But by half-time the Humbersiders had pulled away to lead 18-6 and despite having a player sin binned in the second half held out against the Cumbrians best efforts before finishing strongly to win comfortably.
In Division Two Millom got the better of a hard fought south Cumbrian derby as they won 18-14 at Barrow Island.
It had been a difficult start by the Islanders as Perry Singleton, on dual registration from Whitehaven, was sent off for alleged use of the head.
Despite that set back they actually took the lead with a try from Brad Waring which Sam Jones improved.
Millom came back to lead 10-6 at half-time with tries from Trent Ruddy and Kyle Evans, plus a conversion by Aidan Wilson. A Wilson penalty extended the lead early in the second half.
The twelve men of Barrow Island fought hard and came back with tries from Ryan Wilson and Adam Ford, but in between those touchdowns Ruddy’s second try had maintained Millom’s advantage, improved by Wilson’s third goal.
Ellenborough Rangers knew what to expect at Oldham St. Anne’s having lost there in their Division Three promotion last season. They gave it their best shot but went down 26-10 after earlier trailing 24-0.
Elbra coach Paul Gorge said: “Even though we got beat the lads really put a shift in. Oldham are one of the best teams and I am sure they will be in the promotion hunt at the end of the season.
“They got a roll on for about ten minutes in the first-half and at 24-0 it was virtually all over. We won the second-half 10-2 and I was really pleased with how they responded.”
Jordan Ostle and John Todd scored the Ellenborough tries with Ostle adding a conversion.
In Division Three leaders Distington produced a terrific effort to draw 16-16 at Bentley after they had gone in at half-time trailing 16-0.
Coach Aiden Worthington, who had to play himself, along with eight youngsters, couldn’t hide his delight at the point.
“It was a great effort because we were awful in the first half, still on the bus. One of their lads got a serious injury after 70 minutes and the referee abandoned the game, for good reason, but I think if we had played the 80 minutes we would have gone on to win it.
“We made a couple of changes for the second-half and we were a different team. Jason Lancaster, one of the subs, was outstanding and it really was a terrific point considering the strength of the side,” he said.
Jack Speight, Lancaster and Ryan Hodgson scored tries with Scott George kicking two goals.
Seaton Rangers are still looking for their first win and although beaten 50-6 at Beverley coach Neil Frazer was in up beat mood afterwards.
He said: “It might sound daft but I really enjoyed the lads performance. It took five hours to get there and we went with only 15 players. It was a really red hot day so with fewer options from the bench it was really tough for them.
“I said beforehand not to be making the journey and the numbers an excuse and they responded. They really all had a real dig and I was very proud of them to a man, especially as we had some youngsters with us.
“It certainly gave me encouragement going forward, that there is something there to work on. Probably 38-6 might have been a fairer scoreline because two tries at the end were a bit dodgy and they didn’t deserve that.”
Joe Curwen scored a 55th minute try for Seaton which was converted by Jon-Carl Bryan.
