Wath Brow Hornets exacted full revenge for a defeat earlier in the season at Egremont when they beat the Rangers 56-16 in the return.
It was Egremont’s fifth defeat in a row and as a result they have slipped to the bottom of the National Conference Premier Division.
Early on it was Egremont who made the better start and they took the lead on five minutes with a try from Mitch Edwards which Matt Bewsher converted.
But the Hornets recovered well to go on and lead 36-6 at half-time, killing off any hopes Egremont may have had of pulling off a double.
Cole Walker-Taylor (2), Jake Moore, Fran King, Jack Meagan, Dean Rooney and Morgan McCourt all went in for tries. Walker-Taylor and Sam Curwen kicked two conversions each.
As they had at the start, Egremont began the second-half well and bagged two more tries through Jordan Baird and Seamus Hutton, one of which was converted by Bewsher.
But they couldn’t sustain it and it was Wath Brow who eventually took charge again scoring four more tries by King, Meagan, Ellison Holgate and McCourt. Curwen kicked two goals.
Afterwards Egremont coach Rhys Davies said: “Any defeat is tough to take but a derby defeat is just that bit tougher, especially against the Brow.
“Ultimately, with being down on numbers, it was always going to be a big ask. We started off great but once the Brow got a foothold in the game we struggled to contain them and that was the story of both halves.”
Kells are being dragged into the survival battle after they went down 34-4 at Lock Lane as the Castleford side continued their fine recover from a disastrous start to the season.
It had been tight in the first half and the siders were only separated by a single try six minutes before half-time.
But the Lane picked-up the pace in the second-half and scored three more tries before Dominic Wear nipped over for an unconverted try for Kells.
But there was no rally and Lock Lane scored two more converted tries before the end to win comfortably.
Peter Smith, the Kells coach said: “We defended well in the first-half but our ball control was down at 50% and that impacted on us in the second-half.
“We need to put up a performance this week at home to West Bowling, one of the sides in the bottom three.”
In Division Two Millom came out on top in the Cumbrian derby when they won 34-12 at Ellenborough to end a run of five successive defeats.
There were no complaints from Elbra coach Paul Gorge as he saw his own side slip to their fifth successive defeat.
“The best team won and I thought they wanted it more than we did, playing really well. It’s the first time this season I’ve thought we weren’t competitive enough.
“It means we are being dragged into a relegation battle yet we are still within reach of a top six place and with five games to go we have plenty still to play for.”
The win enabled the Woollybacks to leapfrog county rivals Barrow Island to move within a point of Ellenborough with a game in hand.
It was tight up to the hour mark with the sides locked together at 12-12 but in a big finish Millom pulled clear to complete the double over the west Cumbrians.
Lee Postlethwaite contributed 18 of his side’s points with a try, four conversions and three penalty goals while the other tries came from Niall Harris (2), Andrew Dawson and Jack Newbegin.
Ellenborough’s tries were scored by Garry Taylor and John Todd, both converted by Sean Mumberson.
The other Cumbrian side Barrow Island slipped back into the drop zone after a 30-18 home defeat by Pilkington Recs.
They had actually led 8-6 at half-time but fell away badly in the second half, not helped by a sin-binning for Max Anderson-Moore after a professional foul.
The Islanders tries came from Adam Ford, Oli Holmes, Nathan Sneesby and Jon Walsh, with a conversion from Sam Jones.
In Division Three there was an important away win for Hensingham and a surprise away draw for Distington as both continued their fight for promotion.
Hensingham needed a big performance after last week’s drubbing at Drighlington and they got it in a desperately close 26-24 win at Leigh East.
They looked destined for defeat late in the game when they trailed 24-8 but three converted tries saw them snatch the unlikeliest of victories.
Coach Kris Coward said: “To be honest I thought we were beat and I gave them a real blast behind the sticks after their last try. In fact I had to apologise for that as they showed they still had the fight in them to come back and win it from there.
“There were improvements from our two games but there are still areas where we need to improve. But the way they came back so late in the game makes me think maybe we have turned the corner.
“We did have some injuries during the game so had to re-shuffle and for most of the game our defence was certainly a lot better.”
Nick Maudling, Noel Braithwaite and Jay Weatherill scored the late tries to win the game with Weatherill adding the conversions. Weatherill and Olly Dunn had scored tries in the first-half when Hensingham trailed 12-8.
Distington had to settle for an 11-11 draw at third-bottom Milford when the home side landed a field goal three minutes from the end.
It was always tight but the League leaders had managed to open-up an 11-4 lead with tries from Scott George and Callum Fox, while George converted his own and landed a field goal.
Aiden Worthington the Distington coach said: “To be honest I think we might have been a bit lucky to come home with a point. It was a 4G pitch and I think it caught our lads out as they weren’t prepared for it.
“They were a bit tentative and we have actually got a lot of lads home nursing cuts and burns to knees and elbows. I’m pleased we have a week off.
“We had managed to go 11-4 ahead but when we dropped the re-start kick they scored off the next set and for the last 15 minutes we couldn’t get out of our own half.
“They levelled with a late field goal and then had three other shots at a one pointer but fortunately couldn’t put one over.”
