Cockermouth continued their positive start to the new season in Counties 1 Cumbria with a 26-0 win at Windermere.
A wonderful autumnal afternoon, and a great playing surface which was a credit to the home ground staff, lent perfect conditions for a thrilling game. In many aspects it did not disappoint.
Windermere began well, dominating possession with aggressive forward drives, particularly from their lock forward who had an excellent game and confident sniping from their scrum half kept the Wasps’ hard-working defence on its toes, and, despite prolonged periods of pressure, it held out.
Play continued to swing both ways until just before half time when a rapid Wasps attack saw young lock Jake Moore demonstrate his all-round skills by deftly putting in a grubber kick for right wing Toby Lomas to follow up and score in the corner. Moore saw the conversion attempt sail narrowly wide.
Unfortunately, throughout the game, several yellow cards were issued by the strict referee, alongside two red cards for high tackles, leading to both sides competing with a man short. Wasps had to do it for 60 minutes with a re-shaped front row
At the start of the second half Windermere continued dominating possession, however, following a period of Windermere pressure, Wasps turned the ball over and hooker Will Tyson attacked from his own line.
He linked well with the supporting players before Joe Palmer received the ball from 60 metres out and outpaced the home defence to score under the posts. Moore converted.
The abrasive and challenging encounter continued, with the home team taking the game to Wasps, but when a similar turnover ensued Wasps broke from deep and again winger Joe Palmer scored, this time in the corner.
An excellent conversion from Moore added the points after the ball hit the upright and dropped over the right side of the crossbar.
The final try of the game saw lively scrum half Ollie Swain sniping through the home defence to dot down under the posts with Moore adding the extras.
Wasps improved as the game went on, showing great resilience and gradually gaining composure and better control, with confidence to attack from deep. Great defensive work was exemplified by Harry Bibby who tackled superbly in his first game of the season.
With maximum league points achieved, and their best defensive record maintained, it was another good day at the office for Cockermouth.
It was an entertaining game which will also have given confidence to Windermere who battled hard, producing some pleasing phases of play with total commitment.
The Wasps Man of the Match was Luke Broster while skipper Bertie Hodgson took the award for Windermere.
