Honours were eventually shared in the west Cumbrian derby as Wath Brow came from behind at home to draw 14-14 with Kells.

The Conference Premier Division’s most eagerly anticipated fixture could have gone either way, but in the end Wath Brow needed a late try to salvage a point.

It had been a gritty, backs-to-the-wall effort by Kells to hold onto their advantage as they had to withstand heavy pressure when down to 12 men. Tyrone Dalton had been sent to the bin for a professional foul.

Indeed when Fran King eventually pulled the Hornets level with just four minutes left, a successful conversion would have given them a dramatic victory. But from the touchline Cole Walker-Taylor’s kick drifted wide and a draw was probably a fair result.

The big crowd had expected a tight contest between a Wath Brow side which had won its two previous fixtures, and a Kells team boosted by their first win in the competition a week earlier.

Kells had gone in front on 12 minutes and they were to hold an advantage until King’s late leveller. 

Centre Martin O’Neil raced in for the opener which went unconverted.

It was hard, resolute stuff from both teams but six minutes later Kells extended their lead when stand-off Dalton forced his way over the home line. This time his half-back partner Ross Gainford was accurate with the conversion.

Wath Brow needed a score and they got it on 25 minutes when young winger Curtis Teare sliced through for an unconverted try.

Five minutes from the break, however, Kells had restored their ten point lead when winger Reece O’Neil was able to dot down his side’s third try of the half.

Clearly fired-up at the break, Wath Brow roared out and within nine minutes were right back in the contest when winger Luke Davison burst over for a try which Walker-Taylor converted.

Then it got really tough with Kells earning their medals in defence following the sin-binning of Dalton.

It looked as if they had done enough but King had other ideas and his late try meant the first-ever Conference clash between the two clubs had finished all square.

Not surprisingly forwards caught the eye on the day with second rower Callum Farrer taking man of the match for Wath Brow and prop David Lowery earning the nomination for Kells.

  • Egremont’s unhappy start to the new season continued at Wigan St Patrick’s where they were beaten 34-6.

Much of the problems stemmed from a dreadful start when they conceded three converted tries in the first ten minutes of the game.

The west Cumbrians looked to be still on the bus when St Pat’s scored tries through centre Mike Scrivens, prop Jamie Winstanley-Bristow and winger Tyler Spence, all converted by man of the match, full-back Dan Birkett.

When Egremont finally found their legs after the coach trip down they reduced the arrears with a try from centre Jack Stainton, converted by Matty Bewsher.

But by half-time the home lad had gone out to 28-6 as centre Brad Hargreaves helped himself to a couple of tries, one of them converted by Birkett.

If there was any encouragement for Egremont it was the way they contained their hosts in the second period, limiting them to just one try. Birkett was the scorer and he also added the conversion.