Aspatria drew level with St Benedict’s at the top of the North Lancs Cumbria league table after their 26-19 win over Whitehaven.

Saints have three games in hand over The Black Reds, but Mike Scott’s side are doing all they can to put pressure on the league leaders.

Whitehaven remain in the relegation zone after the bonus point defeat, and are nine points behind Silloth who dropped into the bottom three after Hawcoat Park beat Ashton-Under-Lyne.

Aspatria named their 39th different player of the season in their match-day squad and Scott welcomed back Number Eight Gary Hodgson who has been an integral part of the side this year.

Richmond Terrace was heavy underfoot but, for the first time in months, wind nor rain didn’t influence the game.

Aspatria should have gone ahead in the first two minutes but the ball was dropped with the line beckoning, Whitehaven then followed suit on 11 minutes as they lost possession whilst on the attack.

The first of four Aspatria tries came in the 13th minute after a being awarded a scrum 15 metres from the line.

Hodgson came off the base of the scrum and headed down the right-hand side. He was stopped off the line but Jason Ward backed up to take the ball and dive over in the corner.

Jack Clegg converted from the touchline for a 7-0 lead.

Whitehaven were on the ropes as Aspatria attacked and it took another 10 minutes for the Black Reds to cross the line again.

Centre Marc Haycock’s run took Aspatria to the try line where the ball was lost but then regained from a five-metre scrum.

Hodgson again peeled off the back of the scrum and backed himself to score from short range and he crashed over in the corner for 12-0.

Whitehaven fought back and got on the scoresheet as they went over in the corner after finding numbers down the right-hand side.

Aspatria responded immediately as James Ravell charged through a gap to set his side up on Whitehaven’s 22. They quickly moved the ball to the left-hand side and Ken Bowes was played into space for the try. Clegg’s conversion gave his side a 19-7 lead.

Aspatria’s bonus point try came on 34 minutes as Hodgson bagged his second after Liam Ridley forced a turnover. Clegg converted for a 26-7 lead at half-time, although Andrew Miller came close to scoring a fifth try just before the break.

Despite trailing by 19 points, Whitehaven weren’t out of the game as Aspatria had suffered a number of injuries and changes in position allowed the home side to take control of the game.

Aspatria found it difficult to counter Whitehaven’s rhythm and they came close to scoring just minute into the second half but Tinnion managed to prevent the try.

It took just a few minutes more to add points to their tally and in the 47th minute Tinnion found himself sin-binned as he tried to stop a Whitehaven attack.

The home side used their numbers down the right-hand side and crossed the line to bring the score back to 26-12.

Scott’s side then started to struggle to keep possession and each time they cleared their line, Whitehaven charged back up field.

On 66 minutes a slick back-line move turned into another try for the hosts and the conversion was added to reduce the deficit to just seven points.

Five minutes later, it looked as though Whitehaven had completed their comeback.

The home pack crashed towards the line and a try under the posts looked inevitable.

Aspatria had Clegg to thank for his last-ditch intervention that brought the attack to a halt just inches from the line.

Clegg’s heroics seemed to deflate Whitehaven and lifted Aspatria who managed to close the game out.

The Black Reds took command of the final 10 minutes and ate up the clock to leave Whitehaven with a five-point win to go joint-top of the table.

  • Wigton's away form remains a problem for head coach Mark Lee as they were beaten on the road by Upper Eden.

Despite the result, Wigton's loss was just their second in six games as they consolidate their position in the North Lancs Cumbria League following their relegation from North One West at the end of last season.

In the Cumbria League, Egremont closed the gap on league leaders Workington to just three points after their 38-8 win against Millom.

Workington remain top of the league after their 19-8 win over Moresby but missed out on a crucial bonus winning bonus point.

Workington's result means that third-placed Keswick are just 15 points behind with three games in hand after their 29-0 win over Kendal 2nd XV.

Should they win all their games in hand with a bonus point, Keswick could find themselves in the mix for promotion at the end of the season.

Elswhere, Windermere beat Carlisle Crusaders 72-5 and Creighton lost 78-0 against Furness.