It doesn’t get any easier for Carlisle Rugby Club as they suddenly find themselves within touching distance of the North One West relegation zone.

The city side go to leaders Vale of Lune tomorrow, just five points clear of Altrincham Kersal who are in the last relegation place.

Vale of Lune have lost only once this season and are three points clear with games in hand on the chasing pack.

Last week, they won 33-19 at Manchester who are also five points behind Carlisle in the table.

On Saturday, Carlisle couldn’t take advantage of a welcome return to Warwick Road when they were beaten 26-13 by Stockport.

The visitors had a sizeable pack and, although Carlisle mainly matched them in the scrum, they were able to make serious inroads into the Carlisle half, utilising rolling mauls very effectively to gain territory.

Carlisle head coach David Stout said: “For large parts of the contest, we competed well, stuck to the game plan and showed good commitment.

“Once again, we lost the key moments, mostly down to unforced errors which - as ever at this level - tend to get punished.

“Other than the result, I was pleased with the way we stuck together and pushed to the end.

“Particular credit to the two young Colts, Greg Baines and Harrison Reay, who stepped up in the absence of other senior players.”

Young flanker Reay started the game and actually scored the try which gave Carlisle an 8-5 lead early in proceedings.

Max Connon had kicked a penalty after only three minutes but, by half-time, Stockport had scored twice to lead 12-8.

They scored two converted tries after the three-quarter mark and time was nearly up when Ben Purdham scored a late consolation try for the hosts.

After the game in Lancaster, Carlisle will be keen to hear how Manchester have fared at second-bottom Rochdale and how Altrincham Kersal have got on at Stockport.

In North One East, Penrith have an opportunity to improve their dismal away record when they travel to bottom side Northern.

Last week, Northern went down 35-5 at leaders Morpeth, while Penrith were beating Dinnington 17-10 at Winters Park.

Penrith had lost two games to frost in December followed by the two-game seasonal break and came into the Dinnington clash short of recent match practice, and a touch of ring rustiness should have been a shock to no-one.

They had, however, beaten Dinnington handsomely away from home earlier in the season but the unforgettable first half that followed show little signs of that superiority.

To be fair to the visitors, although they showed little in attack, they defended as if their lives depended on it and much better than they had in the earlier game to keep the home side at bay and scoreless in the first half.

That all changed at the start of the second half when Dinnington showed a side not seen in the opening 40 minutes and opened the game out with intent, scoring a converted try.

Mike Raine celebrated his 200th appearance for Penrith by scoring the first try and he was followed over by Will Morgan and Bruce Spencer. There was only one conversion by Spencer.

Penrith are fifth, some eight points behind leaders Morpeth but with a game in hand.

The top reads: Morpeth played 14, pts 52; Driffield 14, 51; Bridlington 15, 47; Alwick 12, 44; Penrith 13, 44; West Leeds 14, 42.

The league winners and promotion play-off hopefuls will come from that group with the key game tomorrow – Alnwick v Bridlington.

In North Lancs/Cumbria tomorrow, the big game is at Bower Park where leaders Aspatria host second-in-the-table Tarleton.

The Black Reds had confirmed their position as table-toppers with a 29-18 over a gritty Trafford MV side.

Tarleton, a young side who had a spell at the top early in the season, hammered Burnley 64-24.

Aspatria took all five points in a hard-fought contest against a resilient Trafford side that competed for the full 80 minutes.

The 29-18 win keeps Aspatria on top of the league with 51 points from 14 games. Tarleton have 48 points from 15 games, while in pursuit are Keswick 46 from 13; Oldham 45, 13; De La Salle 43, 14 and Wigton 42, 14.

Patrick Noutch, Matthew Atkinson (2) and James Ravell scored first-half tries for Aspatria as they led 24-10 at the break.

Trafford took the second half 8-5 but Aspatria always had enough in hand. Gary Hodgson scored their final try.

Keswick lost a little ground when they were held 18-18 at Littleborough. They needed a try off the last play of the game to get the draw, with the conversion attempt to win it, off-target.

Heavy colds and flu the night before the game resulted in three late changes for the Lakesiders, including senior seasonal debuts for Robbie Bland and Lewis Bell.

They were 8-0 behind after 20 minutes before fighting back to lead 10-8 at the break with a try by skipper Aaron Thompson, and conversion and penalty from Andy Muir.

The hosts came back well to lead 18-10 from two unconverted tries.

The final 15 minutes were all Keswick and Muir kicked a penalty before the very last move of the match ended with James Benson scoring the equalising try. Muir hit the post with the conversion attempt.

Tomorrow, Keswick have a chance to make up that lost ground when they host bottom side Hawcoat Park.

Wigton slipped up at Oldham when they went down 23-0, failing to score for the first time in ages.

It was a disappointing result for the Greens who had won seven of their previous eight matches.

The failure to score in the first 20 minutes of domination proved to be their undoing and Oldham fully deserved their victory.

Wigton will be extra keen to make amends tomorrow when they host Littleborough.

In the Cumbria League, Upper Eden suffered a surprise 30-26 home defeat to Cockermouth, while Carlisle Crusaders lost 24-12 at home to Windermere.

Both losing sides are back in action tomorrow with Upper Eden travelling to Workington and the Crusaders hosting Silloth.