Wigton hosted Cockermouth at Lowmoor Road and although the hosts won 36-14 both sides contributed to an entertaining game.
Cockermouth played first with the breeze behind them and created the first opportunity of the game, following a scrum on the halfway line. They worked their way through to the edge of the defence and put a kick in for the supporting players, but it was too strong and rolled dead.
This was a wake-up call for Wigton who then started to stamp their style of play on the game. Following a series of penalties that were taken quickly, Billy Stafford sold a dummy to a stretched defence and sprinted over from 25 metres to go in under the sticks, leaving Elliot Armstrong a simple conversion.
From the re-start Wigton moved the ball wide and Cockermouth were penalised for a deliberate knock on, with a player being yellow carded, Wigton ran the penalty and great support on the inside saw Stephen Harris take the pass and crash over. Armstrong again converted.
It got better for the Greens, following more attacking phases, when another Cockermouth player found himself receiving a yellow card for a high tackle. From the resulting pressure Harris went over for his second try out wide and this time the conversion was missed.
Cockermouth came back up-field and after several phases scored a well worked try from their man of the match Lewis Bancroft which was converted by Jake Moore to give them hope and go in at the break with a score of 19-7.
The second half started with a revitalised Cockermouth keeping the ball, putting pressure on the Wigton defence.
Discipline was tested and when Armstrong saw yellow for a tackle indiscretion, Cockermouth lifted again and scored another try from Moore which he converted to put them right back into it at 19-14.
It looked like Cockermouth had all the momentum and were now the favourites to push on and win it.
But this Wigton team are growing in experience and confidence, so they reset themselves and started using the wind to good effect.
Cory Bouch was kicking long, forcing Cockermouth to drop deep and return a kick against the wind. This allowed full-back James Paisley to counter attack and find space, really stretching the Cockermouth defence.
From one of Paisley’s counter-attacks he found second row Tom Maughan on the wing and the powerful forward burst down the touchline. He was tackled well, but from a resulting ruck, ran a great line to burst through untouched to go under the posts. Bouch converted to give the Greens some breathing space at 26-14.
This score seemed to secure the game as Wigton were back up to 15 players and Cockermouth had another player yellow carded for a dangerous tackle. In response Armstrong kicked a penalty from 35 metres out which just crept over the bar.
The last score went to powerhouse back rower Jonny Dodd, who carried three defenders over the line from a five-metre scrum and Armstrong converted.
It was a well-deserved win for the Greens but they were made to work for it hard from a committed Cockermouth squad.
