Aspatria gained inside knowledge into why Tarleton are unbeaten and top the North Lancs/Cumbria League.

Unfortunately, they had to suffer a 22-15 defeat for the information.

Tarleton are a young, enthusiastic side with bags of energy and technical ability, but it was their near-perfect defence that held Aspatria at bay for long periods and provided the platform for the victory.

With only a minute on the clock, hooker James Ravell jinked his way over the line from 10 metres and Craig Foster converted.

After the initial shock, Tarleton settled and their bulky pack began to force Aspatria back into their own half.

Then, on 16 minutes, a brilliant backs move isolated Aspatria defenders and created a hole for fly-half Mike Jones to glide through for a converted try.

From the restart, Grant Bethwaite made the hard yards down the touchline but when he was dragged to the ground seven metres short, there was ample forward support to secure the ball. Jason Ward’s quick pass gave Fraser McNee all the space he required to get over in the corner.

The breakthrough for Tarleton came on 30 minutes when they took a quick tap penalty and caused some disarray in the Aspatria ranks.

From a line-out, the home forwards mauled over the line for Jamie Bantleman to make the touchdown and they held their 14-12 lead to half-time.

For the whole of the next 20 minutes, the visitors played the game in the home half. On 61 minutes, Foster struck a penalty kick to edge Aspatria ahead.

But Tarleton were rejuvenated in the final quarter while Aspatria were not as disciplined as their opponents.

Penalties began to be conceded far too frequently and Grieves landed one to snatch back the lead.

A late third try put the game to bed.

Wigton also lost on the road, going down 36-16 at Littleborough.

Wigton started brightly and, after two minutes, Ryan Clark was just off target with a penalty attempt.

The opening try went to the hosts after they made an interception.

Although Wigton appeared to have stopped that break-out, the ball was re-cycled and Littleborough scored a converted try under the posts.

Unfortunately, Clark suffered a nasty eye injury and was taken to hospital.

On 16 minutes, Wigton got themselves back into the game with Dan Reed kicking a penalty. This was short-lived, though, as a number of missed tackles allowed the home side a second try under the posts.

The lead was reduced with a second Reed penalty following a high tackle.

But a converted try on 38 minutes and a penalty on the stroke of half-time meant Littleborough turned round with a 24-6 lead.

Littleborough continued to dominate the early periods of the second half and it wasn’t long before they had scored a bonus-point try which was converted. When they scored a fifth try, the game was out of Wigton’s reach.

However, the Wigton heads never dropped and they were rewarded with two late unconverted tries by Lindsay Walker and Aron Henderson.

Flying the flag proudly for Cumbria between leaders Tarleton and third-placed Littleborough are Keswick.

They and Tarleton are the only unbeaten teams in the league.

Keswick were 39-26 winners in south Cumbria at Hawcoat Park but had to fight back from a 21-15 deficit at half-time.

It was still 29-26 with 10 minutes left but two long-range tries clinched the points.