Aspatria had the daunting task of travelling to the North East to face league leaders Middlesbrough in National 2 North.
They left with convincing evidence that Middlesbrough fully justify their No1 position and look favourites for promotion after suffering a 36-7 defeat.
Middlesbrough proved to be a sharp outfit. The home side provided a lesson in ball retention when possession was earned and in attack played with pace, but the key was clinical finishing when presented with opportunities.
Despite the scoreline Aspatria took a degree of satisfaction from their performance. They, too, generated a number of try scoring chances throughout the game but failed to execute in the face of determined defence.
Middlesbrough scored two early tries to take a 12-0 lead and added two more in the dying embers of the first half.
With Middlesbrough, turning round enjoying a 24-0 advantage and a try bonus point in the bag it is fair to say the game was lost to Aspatria.
However, there was no collapse as often happens to teams in this position.
Aspatria demonstrated a high degree of resilience and fought hard to limit the home side to two further tries in the second period, responding with one of their own, scored by hooker James Hunter.
The second half margin of 12-7 against high quality opposition will give Aspatria a boost for next Saturday’s upcoming visit of Northern, the league’s second placed side.
It’s another big test but news out of Bower Park suggests that a number of key players, who missed the trip to Middlesbrough, will be available to bolster squad selection.
