Carlisle edge closer to North Lancs Cumbria title after win over promotion rivals

The result almost guarantees Carlisle the league title as they sit at the top of the table with a 15-point advantage over their nearest rival.

Only a total collapse would prevent that.

Derby games are always keenly fought encounters but it was Carlisle who came out of the blocks the sharpest, attempting to recreate their efforts at Bower Park in November.

After weathering the early offensive, Aspatria used two penalties awarded in their favour to gain a foothold around the home 22.

The subsequent line-out was won but, at the ensuing maul, Carlisle managed to turn over the ball and mount a fast paced counter attack, taking them to the Aspatria try line.

From the last line-out, prop Henry Furbank managed to wrestle the ball from the Aspatria forwards in the maul and made hard yards down the left touchline.

As the ball was passed across the backline, centre Dan Holmes made a typical piercing run through the scrambling Aspatria defence, just being dragged down metres from the line.

There weren’t enough defenders left though to prevent fly-half James Telford being on the end of the move.

Aspatria came back and the strong runs of second row pair Liam Ridley and Greg Dickinson created a series of promising platforms for the Aspatria back division to attack from.

Carlisle’s defence remained solid with some outstanding tackling from the home back row men Tom Percival and Guy Graham knocking back those in black and red at every opportunity.

A thundering run down the left touchline put winger Lee Tinnion in space for a try that was just stopped when full-back Andy Glendinning managed to force the winger to spill the ball.

There were other opportunities for Aspatria for points on the board, as a grubber behind the home defence was just grounded by a Carlisle hand for a 22 drop out.

For nearly 10 minutes, Aspatria hammered away but failed to make an impact and disappointingly for them had to settle for a long-range penalty from Jack Clegg.

It was the Carlisle side that ended the half on the up, with the pack demonstrating just how well disciplined they have been all season.

With Carlisle gaining a scrum 15 metres out, they marched Aspatria back ten of them, with a pick and go by number eight James Brocket just foiled inches short of the line.

Having been awarded a penalty from the scrum disintegrating, the Carlisle side scrummed it again, and again, finally being penalised as scrum-half Matty Roper was caught in possession, the wrong side of the try line.

Within minutes of the second period commencing, Carlisle were down to 14 men, with a forward binned for a transgression at the ruck.

Clegg attempted his third long-range effort of the game to edge his side in front but it was wide.

Carlisle had to dig deep into reserves to keep the visitors at bay, as temporarily Aspatria managed to regain a bit of composure in the scrum.

However defensively, the home side were magnificent as they kept a resurgent Aspatria side at bay.

It was Carlisle who broke the deadlock, as restored to a full complement, the forwards drove Aspatria deep into their territory.

Then, from a breakdown, fly-half Telford picked a line through the Aspatria defence, just being hauled down by full-back Andrew Miller short of the line.

With the Carlisle pack on hand close behind, a series of pick and go’s gave returning warhorse Lee Brumpton the chance to be driven over with Stu Graham in close support to give Carlisle a bigger points cushion. Telford’s conversion made it 12-3.

At this stage, Aspatria still had plenty of energy in the tank and more than a reasonable share of possession to work with but they were up against a superb defence that simply did not miss a tackle.

On 70 minutes, Clegg again narrowed the gap to 12-6 with a penalty to set up a grandstand finish, where one mistake from the Carlisle defence would have turned victory into defeat.

Aspatria set up a series of attacks but Carlisle defending on the edge of their 22 kept everything thrown at them at arm’s length.

With a few minutes to go, both teams lost a player to the bin for a dust up near the halfway line.

Aspatria continued to batter away but the first up tackling of Carlisle was more than a match and ultimately it was this factor that delivered the home side a hard earned victory.

Wigton are still in the mix for a promotion play-off place but they stuttered to their 20-0 home win over relegation-threatened Upper Eden.

Wigton had the lion's share of territory and possession and never looked like losing, but it was a performance lacking in fluency with skill levels and decision making preventing the Greens wrapping up the bonus point.

A penalty in front of the posts from scrum-half Dan Reed gave Wigton an early lead and, after winger Ryan Clark had been stopped just short, they were frustratingly penalised on the Upper Eden line.

From a tapped penalty by Reed, full-back Gregg Smith was almost through the line but the ball was kept alive.

Wigton regrouped around second row Robert Marrs in front of the posts. The maul was driven and, when the ball was released, Smith was able to cross for a try. Reed added the conversion.

Several times Wigton were in striking distance but poor passing or dropping the ball prevented further progress until almost half time.

Smith fielded a kick and chipped up the touchline, forcing Upper Eden to concede a line-out. A catch and drive duly followed with number eight Stuart Creighton claiming the unconverted try for a 15-0 half-time lead.

Wigton's third try came from Creighton again. Another line from a penalty saw a catch and drive go diagonally infield. This opened up a wide blindside and, when the ball was passed out, Creighton was able to beat two defenders to score.

For the rest of the half, Wigton failed to find the fluency and cohesion which would enable them to register the bonus point try.

Time is running out for Upper Eden, Workington and Silloth as they look like forming a relegation trio from Cumbria.

Workington went down 36-26 at Aldwinians, while Silloth lost 29-0 at home to play-off outsiders Hawcoat Park.