Keswick put in a battling performance against Cumbria 1 league leaders Kirkby Lonsdale at Davidson Park, writes Ben Challis.
They held back the visitors for 25 minutes before a flurry of tries went in, but ended the game on a real high with sustained pressure on Kirkby Lonsdale and a late try.
Keswick started well and while the game was played mostly in Keswick’s half, it was not all one way traffic and the large crowd enjoyed a competitive game in the bright sunshine.
On 25 minutes the Kirkby Lonsdale pressure paid off and Al Rogers crashed through for the first of two tries.
That score was almost immediately followed by a try from Ollie Higgs, again converted by Jake Stewart, and Kirkby Lonsdale were up 0-14.
Keswick did then get on the scoreboard when Ste Holloway took advantage of a penalty decision to kick for the three points.
With Keswick reduced to 14 with a sin-binning, Kirkby Lonsdale ended the first half with another try from Rogers, again crashing in and with Stewart again adding the conversion for 3-21 at half time.
The second half began with Kirkby Lonsdale camped on the Keswick try line and while defending well, and captain Jake Winter one of a number of players putting in some big tackles, eventually Sam Parkinson ground his way through a wall of defenders for an unconverted try.
With Oli Clark now off injured, Kirkby Lonsdale then extended their lead with a fifth and final try, this one from Archie Bamforth who collected the ball from an excellent Stewart offload and sprinted forwards to dot down on the right wing, with Stewart’s conversion making it 3-33.
The last 20 minutes saw a shift in the game with Keswick on the attack and Josh Clark, Aaron Thompson, Alex Slaughter Crisp, Ben Pepper, Danny Price, Keelan Johnson and Liam Quail all making excellent runs deep into Kirkby Lonsdale territory.
With 10 minutes left on the clock repeated Kirby Lonsdale penalties gifted and regifted Keswick possession, and the break down in discipline earned the visitors a team warning, and then two sin bins, and finally just as Quail was released on the left wing a penalty try for Keswick was awarded by referee Mike Firby for a final score line of 10-33.
Keswick were not expected to win this game and will be very pleased with their performance.
Kirkby Lonsdale’s bonus point win leaves them at the top of the Cumbria 1 table, eight points clear of both second placed Hawcoat Park and third placed Carlisle.
