Ellenborough got the better of Millom in a tight Cumbria Conference game at Solway Park.
It finished 22-18 to the home side but was as close as the scoreline suggested and could have gone either way in the end.
Millom had got off to a strong start with a try on seven minutes from Hadley Thompson with Jack Park adding the conversion.
But crucially that was to be Millom’s only conversion of the game and the missed kicks eventually proved costly.
They increased their lead on 12 minutes, though, with the first of their three unconverted tries as Thompson got over the Elbra line for his second touchdown.
Ellenborough stormed back and were level by half-time with tries by Rocco Okesene (25) and Kian Dempsey (35), with Okesene converting his own touchdown.
It didn’t take long for Millom to regain the lead as Tom Askew went over a minute into the second half.
But two minutes later Ellenborough had the lead for the first time when Okesene scored again and also added the conversion for a 16-14 lead.
In this end-to-end game Millom were back in front after 49 minutes with a try from Connor Terrill.
The decisive try for Ellenborough was scored by Niall Gray on 56 minutes, with Okesene conversion but for the final ten to 15 minutes of the game Millom hammered away at the home line.
Only some superb defence prevented them from getting over and they held on for an important victory.
Okesene shared the Ellenborough man of the match award with Gary Tierney while Kyle Evans took the award for Millom.
You can hear what coach Paul Gorge thought of the performance below:
Millom’s coach Brad Crellin said he was frustrated by the defeat.
He said: “It’s a tough one to take as we controlled the first-half but like a few games already this year we seem to take our foot off the gas after half-time and it punishes us.
“It was a top effort from our lads against a big Elbra side but we just lacked a bit of composure at times and the errors didn’t help us at all.
“Hopefully we start getting some lads back from injury over the next couple of weeks as we have a long injury list.”
There was another good south v west clash at Hindpool where the home Tigers went down 30-20 to Maryport.
It was a tough game in nasty drizzle and after Maryport had gone 12-0 ahead the home side fought back level by half-time.
It was nip and tuck in the second-half until it reached a climax with Maryport 24-20 ahead, sealing the win with a converted try right at the death,
Hindpool coach Kevin Kyte said: “We played much better than we had in the previous two games and it was good to have some players back.
“I thought the win could have gone either way when it ws 24-20 nut on the last play of the game Maryport forced their way over near to the sticks.
“We have a two-week break now when we will be training hard and getting back to the level of play we are capable of.”
The Tigers tries came from Kori Hayes (2), Jack Osman and Rocco Scarpone with Sam Beattie converting two of them.
Lewis Moore (2), Sean Mumberson, Ellis Nixon and Liam Anderson scored the Maryport tries with Moore converting all five.
You can hear below what Maryport coach Mark Foster thought of the game:
League leaders Dalton were given a good test by Distington before they collected the points 28-14 in West Cumbria.
Dalton coach Paul Armstrong said: “It was a good away win but it has come at a cost with more injuries unfortunately.
“We knew we would be in for a tough game against a strong Distington side after their result at Hensingham but started really well and despite losing centre Elliot Bibby in the first few minutes with a leg injury we looked pretty sharp.
“In fact we had some really good possession in dangerous areas and our pace in and around the rucks caused some problems for the home side. Scrum half Harry Gordon linked up well with our pack and full back Ross Bird was a constant threat in attack.”
In fact it was Bird who went over for the opening score and with the Dalton defence on top in the opening 20 minutes with good line speed Distington struggled to get out of their own half which eventually saw prop Tom Sharpe being first to react to a Gordon kick in goal to score the second.
Stand off Conor Grant was next to get on the board to make it 18-0 before some basic errors gave Distington some decent field position which they eventually capitalised on to reduce the deficit to 18-6 at the break.
Both teams started the second half well but when Dalton turned over possession too easily Distington went over again for an unconverted try to pull it back to 18-10.
Dalton captain Joe Crarey, who had come off the bench on his return from injury in the first half, was lively and half backs Grant and Gordon started to take the line in with prop Ewan Costa eventually pushing through in support to score off a smart short ball from Gordon.
But Distington weren’t done and a third try kept them in the game offering hope of a complete comeback.
A shoulder injury to Crarey saw Dalton with just on sub left on the bench but they held the Distington surge. Back row and man of the match Ben Ashburner made some excellent metres before a clever Gordon kick saw centre Dan Knott outstrip the defence for the final try with only minutes remaining.
Bird finished with four goals for the league leaders.
The Distington tries were scored by Kieran Worthington (2) and Jessie Joe Parker with one conversion by man of the match Scott George.
You can hear below what Distington coach Ryan Hodgson thought of his side’s performance:
In the only other Cumbria Conference game Hensingham were 34-6 winners at Seaton.
It was a welcome win for Hensingham after successive defeats to Dalton and Distington while Seaton coach Neil Frazer was pleased with the improvement from the previous week’s drubbing at Dalton.
Frazer said: “It was a lot better. We turned up with a lot better attitude and worked hard but were beaten by a better, stronger team. However, I don’t think the final scoreline really reflected the game.”
Rhys Bold scored the Seaton try which was converted by Kieran Robinson.
Hensingham scored six tries from Jay Weatherill, Cohen Massey, Jordan Thomson, Noel Branthwaite, Henley Donnan and Dylan Bragg, who also landed six conversions. Fletcher Holgate was their man of the match.
Coach Andrew Smith said: “It was a really good response from our lads after back-to-back defeats.
“We still have a number of lads away through either injury or unavailability but we put in a really dominant performance.
“There’s still a bit of work to do but hopefully as we move forward we get a few more players back, get a settled side and move forward with our performance.
“We left a few points out there on the field which we need to be more clinical about but overall I’m pleased with the response and we will look to build on it.”
