Having been victorious in the home victory against Windermere RUFC in December, Ambleside Centurions travelled to Windermere knowing a warm welcome on and off the pitch was guaranteed.
A solid 10 minute start by both teams, where Ambleside kept Windermere in their own half for majority of the 10 minutes, this deadlock was broken when Windermere set the tone relatively early after a great defensive set from Ambleside.
Windermere had grafted their way up the pitch and over the line. Conversion, missed (5-0).
Windermere kept attacking down the 10 and 12 channel but got no change at all from the three tough tackling Akrigg brothers playing together in the Ambleside first team for probably the very last time before youngest brother Joe heads off to Australia.
Not long after this, Ambleside came straight back at the home team (Windermere), missing a couple of opportunities, but then utilized a penalty tap and go with a try in the right hand corner (5-5). It wasn’t looking like a conversion strong game, as this wide try was also a missed conversion.
Both teams continually worked, making for an evenly matched game, whilst Ambleside had a couple of errors along the way, they kept their heads high and focused on their next task – something that I’ve really seen improve with this young squad over the past 12 months!
Captained by the Welsh Dragon Huw Evans the Ambleside pack showed a steel forged over the course of a very tough start to the league season before Christmas.
Windermere seemed to be getting away with a lot of tackles without releasing/rolling away, clearly an attempt to slow the game down slightly given the away team momentum at times. Initially these weren’t called by the ref, about 30 minutes into the game the ref saw the issue and disciplined accordingly.
Following this after Windermere had made good ground they were let off with a not at all straight line out.
Nevertheless, Ambleside’s powerful defensive sets kept Windermere at bay. There was some huge hits from Ambleside, especially Carr, Newell, and Josh wright showing dominance and determination on a whole new level for this team.
Windermere took it all on the chin and kept running back at their determined opposition, giving the crowd something really worth watching.
Whilst in the first half Ambleside didn’t benefit from some of the penalties which probably ought to be given, they regained control as and when they could.
Whilst at this point Ambleside weren’t too successful at getting around or through Windermere, they attempted a cheeky kick through, unfortunately this wasn’t a success, but a move worth trying. The presence in Windermere’s defence was picking up as the game progressed towards half-time.
At half-time, it was 5-5.
Starting the second half, Matty Kaye coming on at 9, after a solid performance from the previous 9 Sam Kennelly. There was a number of scrums in the middle of the park as both teams battled it out, yet the game was still fluent and a pleasure to watch.
Off the back of a wonderful run from Gregg Tebbert, Ambleside made a lot of ground up the side of the pitch, then Matty Kaye powered over the line with a penalty tap and go from around 3 yards out (5-10).
Windermere come back strong, with a scrum now 5 yards out, attempted a drive over scrum, failing. Then repeat, solid and strong, yet, failing again, much to the relief of the Ambleside fans. Windermere’s forwards really put their all into these attempts, whilst not successful they had pushed Ambleside back in the scrum.
Once again, Ambleside used the drive Windermere gave them in the scrums to drive them to success, Matty Kaye, reliably in for a try off the back of a yard making carry from Rohan Mallin the other speedy winger for Ambleside (5-15).
Matty Kaye, also got the conversion over this time, making for a (5-17) lead to Ambleside.
As tension started the build there was a little bit of pushing and shoving with both teams, but nothing got out of hand just local derby high spirits.
After being in the thick of it, Lewis McHale came off around 10minutes from the end of the game along with JJ both with a bloody heads after a bit of a bump. To the best of my knowledge, there was no major injuries during the game, nevertheless, I assume the lads will be sore tomorrow given the ferocity of the 80 minutes.
To the bitter end – Windermere dug deep and managed to secure another try, only 5 minutes from the final whistle, a tramping run from about 10 yard out caught Ambleside off guard and crashed the ball over (10-17). Given another wide try, another conversion missed.
At this point my concerns was Ambleside were getting complacent from what looked to be a firm win – there were many ongoing discussion on the sidelines as to what time is remaining. They just had to hold their own and not do anything stupid for the last 3-4 minutes.
There game finally came to a close at a number of plays where Windermere were heavily defending their own try line – Ambleside really leaving a mark as to what they came here to do – win!
As the game came to a close, both competitive sides hadn’t much left to give; in true sportsmanship style shook hands and enjoyed socialising afterwards.
With a relatively even game and both teams fighting to the end, there was an abundance of loud visitors cheering for both these Cumbria Derby teams and the bar was full.
It really has been a remarkable 14 months for the Ambleside Centurions from the brink of extinction to re-entry into the Cumbria 1 league and the first season back to complete the Double over Windermere RUFC for the first time since 1982 really will live in the memory for a very long time.
The winner overall was local community rugby and really does show with a little bit of support from both communities for the players what can be achieved in a relatively short space of time.
The final score was Windermere 10-17 Ambleside Centurions RUFC.
