It was not a memorable day for West Cumbria’s three Premier Division sides in the National Conference.
Wath Brow lost to bottom side Lock Lane; Kells were beaten at leaders Siddal and Egremont were edged out by mid-table York Acorn.
Wath Brow would probably be most disappointed of the three after they had been beaten 15-10 by struggling who had won only once previously this season.
They were ending a run of three straight defeats against a Hornets side who were slipping to their sixth defeat so far – the worst start they have made in the top flight.
It had looked promising early on when Jack Meagan scored the first try on 16 minutes and Cole Walker-Taylor converted.
But by half time the Castleford hosts had nipped into a 7-6 lead with a converted try and a field goal.
The Brow couldn’t get back in front. They were chasing the game even further when Lock Lane scored again five minutes after the resumption.
Meagan scored his second try eight minutes from the end but Lock Lane had the final word with a penalty with virtually the last kick of the game.
Kells were on the receiving end at leaders Siddal whose 34-0 victory was their ninth win in a row.
They led 16-0 at the break and were just as dominant in the second-half as Kells never seriously tested them.
Disappointed head coach Peter Smith said: “It was probably our worst performance of the year. We were poor in attack and soft in defence.
“We will need to address both issues before we play Egremont on Friday night, otherwise we will get the same result.”
Their derby clash at Gillfoot is the only Premier Division game scheduled for the weekend and Egremont will also have work to so in midweek as they were beaten 24-22 at home to York Acorn.
Acorn were ending a run of four straight defeats while Rangers were slipping to their third defeat in a row.
It was all square 12-12 at half-time and early in the second half Rangers had sneaked in front 16-12.
But it was Acorn who responded well. A converted try put them in front for the first time in the game and another on 61 minutes put them eight points in front.
Egremont did reduce the arrears with a try by Fraser McNee, converted by Tom Houghton but at 78 minutes it came too late.
Jack Conway, Callum Aitken and Dannyu Barker had scored tries earlier for Egremont, two of them converted by Houghton.
Ellenborough Rangers produced one of their best performances of the season to beat Division Two title challengers Wigan St Jude’s 24-22.
A force on their own ground Elbra snatched victory at the death to retain their unbeaten home record.
Rocco Okesene got in for the try of virtually the last play to level the score and Sean Mumberson landed the conversion to earn the points.
Keenan Winter, John Todd and Gary Tierney had scored tries earlier with Winter landing the conversions.
Delighted coach Paul Gorge said: “It was a great win but I have to say if a neutral had been there he would really have enjoyed watching two good sides going at it throughout, no dirt just a good hard game between two committed sides.
“They are very good, coming strong through the middle and then have the talented players outside to move it wide.
“But we stayed with them, although the finish was a bit frantic. They scored in the corner and kicked the goal four minutes from time to lesad by four.
“We were attacking at the death and got a penalty. We knew it was going to be next tackle to end the game and they moved it left and then back right. Andy Ostle put a little kick in and Rocco got on the end of it to score,
“It was all on the kick but Sean put it over and we had maintained our unbeaten record, but what a game!”
Another of the title challengers Oldham St Anne’s were at Millom and they went home with a 32-12 victory.
Josh Blinkhorn scored a first-half try for Millom but that was their sole success along with Lee Postlethwaite’s conversion and they trailed 20-6 at the break.
It was a bit tighter in the second period but Millom could only manage a try by Kyle Evans, again converted by Postlethwaite.
Barrow Island are in relegation trouble, next to bottom after they lost 34-6 at Pilkington Recs who were able to leapfrog the south Cumbrians after that victory.
Jake Stockdale scored the Islanders try, which Sam Jones converted but 18-6 behind at half-time was as close as it got with Pilkington pulling well clear in the second half.
Seaton Rangers were celebrating their first win of the season when they beat Featherstone Lions 22-18.
It had been 20-8 to Seaton with tries from Caine Barnes (2), Liam Williamson and Mark Surtees – two of them converted by new recruit Kieran Mewse.
The Lions fought back to 20-18 and it needed a penalty four minutes from time by Mewes to ease Seaton home.
Coach Gus Frazer said: “It was great to get the first win and the club was really bouncing afterwards as the lads certainly enjoyed it.’
“I thought we were in control for the most part and got a good lead when we fluffed a couple mof good opportunities.
“A couple of errors and they were back in it but we got a late break up field and when we were awarded the penalty we took it.
“The lads dug in after that and defended really well to make sure we got that win. It’s disappointing, though, that we don’t have a game over the next two weeks to follow up with.”
Hensingham are back up to second place after a good 20-16 win at Milford.
They had to work hard after trailing 6-4 at the break with Miller Dalton scoring their try.
But Hensingham came back strongly to lead 20-10 with tries from Kier Starkie, Jack Kellett and Koby Conway with two conversions by Jay Weatherill.
Milford scored a try and conversion very late on but Hensingham were close enough to the finishing line to see it through.
Coach Kris Coward said: “It was a tough, physical game but we are finding a way to win which is important.
“We are halfway through the season and if anybody had said before the start we would be second with seven wins I would have snapped their hand off.
“We have a week off because of the Challenge Cup final and then we have three home games on the spin which will be nice and we are looking forward to those games.”
