Keswick cruised to a comfortable win in the County Cup, brushing aside a spirited and fast paced Carlisle, writes Ben Challis.
The Kestrels ran in eight tries in total compared to the visitors’ two, and Kieran Mewse added seven conversions.
An exciting young Carlisle side came into the game on the back of a so far dominant season in Cumbria 1 where they are undefeated six matches in, with Keswick’s own run of good form being ended last weekend with the one point league loss to Guisborough.
It was Keswick who got back to winning ways with seven different players scoring tries including one debut try on the day.
Keswick started well and scored from the opening set, with Danny Price sprinting clear on the right wing to turn in towards the sticks and dive in after just two minutes, and although Mewse missed the kick, it was his only miss of the day.
Keswick were 5-0 up. Carlisle replied immediately, making good use of field possession to win a line out, and this set up an unconverted try down the left wing.
What should have been a simple conversion kick for Vince Lung was charged down by a leaping Dan Craghill, and it was all square at 5-5.
This was followed by 10 minutes of evenly matched play between the two sides, with Keswick giving away too many penalties, but Carlisle making far too many mistakes in their fast passing and sometimes reckless game, and repeatedly gifting possession back to Keswick.
Next over for Keswick was Jack Tinkler for 12-5, but Carlisle responded and thought they had their own second try but referee Martin Denvir deemed the ball held up over the line.
The grounding was certainly just short of the line. Instead it was Keswick who scored next some 10 minutes later, and it was the debut first team try for Lewis Pepper who, set up from a jinking run from Craghill, evaded a tackle to break free on the left wing and sprint the final 25 metres to dive in with a huge smile on his face, with Mewse making a difficult conversion in a gusty wind for 19-5.
It didn’t take long for Keswick to add a fourth and decisive score, with captain Peter Weightman charging down the field of play, only to be tackled just inches from the try line, but the following Marky Trow took the ball and dived through a melee of bodies right beside the sticks for a fabulous try, with Mewse converting for 26-5.
With Carlisle now reduced to 14 after a sin binning for a cynical tackle on Price as he sprinted clear, next over was Mewse himself, collecting his own clever angled grubber kick and side stepping a bamboozled Carlisle defence to dive onto the ball, converting his own try for a 33-5 lead to Keswick at half time.
Keswick opened the second half with another try, this one from from Price, who backed himself on the right wing and used his speed to outpace the Carlisle defence, side stepping what could have been a crucial tackle, kicking forwards, kicking again, and pouncing on the ball for a try.
Mewse added another excellent conversion. Next up it was Ben Clark who was again set up by Craghill, kicked forwards twice, collected his own kick, and, followed in by Jamie Wilson, slid over for a converted try and 47-5.
Carlisle managed to grab a try back but it was too little and far too late, and the final minutes were all Keswick, with Carlisle just managing to deflect a driving maul, and desperately haul down a rampaging Grant Reid who battered his way to just a metre short of the Carlisle try line.
A final try, a magnificent and majestic swan dive from Weightman, was the icing on the cake for Keswick, and Mewse’s conversion made it 54-10 at the final whistle.
After the match, Keswick head coach Garry Holmes said: “We knew Carlisle had the potential to be tricky opponents in the County Cup, they are unbeaten in Cumbria 1 and playing some good rugby.
“They are rebuilding with a youthful squad. We spoke about being disciplined during the game.
“Not just in terms of penalty count but thinking about how we try to play, and the principles we have in place in attack and defence. I was really happy to see our backs enjoy the day in attack, moving the ball freely and getting rewarded for this. Up front it was a battle as it always is with Carlisle.
“They have a solid set piece and are not afraid of collisions. They have some very exciting young players coming through at the moment and Graham is doing a great job with developing them.
“We found joy in our ability to organise quicker and playing in the right areas of the field. Our ruck speed was much better than last week which allowed us to gain momentum.
“We have three season defining weeks in the League ahead of us as we play the teams around us. We will need to show our ability to dig in and stay in the fight, trust ourselves and in our team mates. Its an exciting time for the squad and will show us where we are.”
Saturday November 22
- Percy Park v Keswick in Regional 2 North, ko 2.15pm
- Keswick II v Penrith II in Cumbria 1, ko 2.15pm
