A late attacking surge from Morpeth in the dying seconds of this exhilarating game denied Aspatria a full five-point haul, leaving them with only the consolation of two hard earned bonus points.
Taking these points was in itself a victory of sorts considering the disruption suffered by the Aspatria squad in the build up to the game.
In the days before the match, player availability hit Aspatria’s team selection hard. They were forced to dig deep into squad resources to field a team for this tough visit to North East High Flyers, Morpeth.
The forwards were in reasonable shape bolstered by James Dowling coming in for his first game of the season and Phil Dixon emerging from retirement to help out.
The back division suffered the most disruption with veteran playmaker Steven Stoddart answering the call alongside another ‘retiree’ in the shape of centre Heinie Jonker.
Short of a right winger, Lewis Barwise normally a backrow volunteered for the role. On the bench, there were two new faces in Jonny Miller and Connor Sinkinson.
And so Aspatria began the game with little expectation but they did have a game plan and that was to keep the ball tight in the forwards when possession came their way. For near enough all the game they did this to perfection.
In the first half Aspatria enjoyed a strong wind at their backs as they attacked the club house end. They used the conditions wisely to pen Morpeth back and took a near immediate lead when Barwise neatly squeezed in at the corner for 0-5.
The momentum for the try came from a line breaking run from second row Jude Wilkinson who in his first season with Aspatria continues to impress.
The pressure was too much for Morpeth who following the early score conceded a succession of penalties and with only 12 minutes elapsed Stoddart had used two of these to provide Aspatria with a 0:11 advantage.
Morpeth, perhaps recognising that they were not going to get any change out of the visiting pack began to play a more expansive game.
For them this was the correct tactic and it worked. By the 21st minutes two fluent backs moves delivered a couple of converted tries to give the home side a 14-11 lead. It very much looked like normal service resumed but Aspatria had other ideas.
Morpeth simply could not handle a rampant Aspatria pack. On 23 minutes Wilkinson benefitted from some excellent work by No8 Chris Graham to outpace a covering defence and go over. Minutes later, Wilkinson’s second row partner, Riley Thwaites added a 3rd try.
At this stage Aspatria were in full control of the game and in the 10 minutes prior to half time added two more tries, both coming after forceful work by the pack but scored by Stoddard who converted each of them to establish a 23 point gap at 14-37.
With the final play of the half Morpeth struck back and yet again it was a backs effort that ran wide and around the Aspatria defence.
The half finished with a 21-37 score line in favour of Aspatria. Still a handsome margin but Morpeth had two reasons to feel this game was far from over. Firstly, they now had the benefit of the conditions and secondly they knew that spreading the ball wide was a key to further scores.
The second half was only minutes old when Morpeth ran in a 4th try and at 28-37 the home side were right back in contention but as the half progressed their frustration began to grow as Aspatria’s ball retention tactics looked to be capable of winning the game.
It was at times ugly stuff as Aspatria ground their way upfield with close in, pick and go moves.
As the game crept into the final quarter Aspatria looked more that capable of holding on for a win.
The visitors won a series of penalties in the home 22 as they took apart the Morpeth scrum. Morpeth were warned by the referee and one forward was yellow carded. On the third resetting of a five metre scrum No8 Graham came flying off the back to launch himself over the line for an unconverted score.
Into the final 10 minutes Aspatria held a 28-42 lead but understandably an element of fatigue crept into the Aspatria effort. The game turned dramatically in favour of Morpeth.
Morpeth were now able to clearly see that Aspatria were in difficulty trying to defend a wide pitch. The home backs proved merciless in exploiting this and long range tries began to flow. It takes some doing to score three tries with only a few minutes remaining on the clock, so credit must go to Morpeth for achieving this with the final one and the game winning score coming with the final play off the game.
A 13-try thriller ended in Morpeth’s favour and they continue the season with an outside chance of promotion.
When the dust settles Aspatria will recognise that the bonus points earned may prove vital if the relegation battle gets any tighter.
For now, and based on this performance they can look forward with optimism for 2025 when a full complement of players will be back in action.
This report cannot end without praising all the players who travelled to Morpeth, particularly Dixon and Jonker who came out of retirement and played their parts magnificently.
Chris Graham took the man of the match honour but in truth there would have been little argument if any of the pack had been named.
The performance of Steven Stoddart operating at No10 also demands recognition. With the wind blowing a gale the experience of Stoddart was invaluable.
