Carlisle lose for the first time in North Lancs Cumbria at Fleetwood

With a lot of possession in the first five minutes, only a forward pass denied Andy Glendinning the opening try in the corner.

Fleetwood cleared their lines from the scrum and pinned Carlisle down in their own 22 for the next ten minutes but the city side were first to score.

From a turnover ball, Jason Israel wrong-footed the Fleetwood defence to set up a ruck deep in the home half.

The Carlisle forwards picked and went for a few phases, sucking the home defence in, then scrum-half Matty Roper spread the ball left, for Israel to finish-off the move he created with a try in the left corner.

Fleetwood responded well, though, and within two minutes, reduced the arrears with a successful penalty.

It was the Cumbrians who struck next after flanker Henry Wainwrigh broke through the home defence to set up a ruck in the Fleetwood 22.

With the visitors being caught offside at the breakdown, fly-half James Telford calmly converted the penalty.

Another Fleetwood penalty reduced the Carlisle lead at half-time to 8-6.

After Telford missed an early penalty chance Fleetwood pushed up field to put Carlisle under some pressure and created a hole in the visitors’ defence for what was to be their only try of the game.

With ten minutes left, from a line-out deep in the Fleetwood 22, a catch and drive allowed hooker Tom Graham to be driven over in the right corner.

A fine touchline conversion by Telford put Carlisle back in front at 15-13.

With a third successive victory in sight, Carlisle’s indiscipline at a breakdown allowed the Fleetwood sharpshooter the opportunity to slot a long-range penalty to deny them.

Aspatria edged home against De La Salle 19-12 after a pulsating clash, in which, the result was in doubt for 75 of the 80 minutes.

The clashes between the 16 forwards were epic as each side looked to achieve some kind of dominance.

The reality was neither side could sustain lengthy periods of possession as defence quickly turned into attack.

After Aspatria had declined the offer of a simple kick in front of the posts, opting to run the ball and failing to exploit it, a similar situation occurred on the Aspatria 22.

Perhaps aware of the reality of this taut contest, DLS decided to get the scoreboard moving with a Chris Petrou penalty.

The game was at an impasse but, on 28 minutes, Aspatria may well have thought fortune may shine on them as DLS forward, Steve Brooks was yellow carded.

Even down to 14 men, DLS seemed in no mood to allow Aspatria the luxury of building up momentum.

They were helped in part by some poor ball handling by the visitors as the first half petered out.

Immediately following the restart, DLS had their best spell of the game.

The ball was kept under control and it seemed Aspatria’s defence may be on the verge of surrendering a try.

The black and red line held, with second row, Phil Dixon and back row colleague, Jono Burnyeat putting in some shuddering tackles.

A penalty was conceded and Aspatria lost back rower, Greg Dickinson, to the sin bin for his part in the incident.

The penalty allowed Petrou to put the home side 6-0 in front.

As the second half moved forward, Aspatria changed up a gear and began to play at a faster pace than previously seen.

The effect of this was not immediate but, as the contest progressed, the fitness of the Aspatria players would become a decisive factor.

At a five-metre scrum, the home front row was put under pressure and, when the packs tilted towards the touchline, number eight Gary Hodgson picked up and scored in the corner.

The pendulum swung back in favour of DLS when Aspatria were penalised midfield for a high tackle and Petrou nailed a long-range kick.

On 61 minutes, a long-range penalty from stand-off, Jack Clegg got them back to within a point at 9:8 and, only two minutes later, the lead was acquired after outstanding work by Hodgson and second row, Matthew Atkinson.

This was a score of real quality.

Rooke got the move going with a dart towards the halfway mark and then Atkinson and Hodgson in tandem broke upfield to place the attack on the home 22.

Hodgson produced a piece of magic to take the last defender out of the game with a ‘round the corner’ pass to the onrushing Akehurst, who had a simple jog to the line. The conversion was missed but Aspatria held a 13-9 lead with 15 minutes to play.

Nathan Lowman had to produce an electrifying tackle after a Crossfield dash that dislodged the ball from DLS hands, literally inches from the try line.

This would be the closest DLS would get to thwarting Aspatria, the home side looked out on their feet.

The Black Reds heaved a big sigh of relief and set about penning DLS in their own half with a series of driving mauls.

Two more Clegg penalties put them clear but a late penalty from Petrou earned the Salford side a deserved losing bonus point.

Life at this level is proving fraught for newly promoted Workington as they crashed to a third successive defeat, beaten heavily 94-0 at Bolton.

Silloth, however, were much more competitive in their third defeat, just beaten by a score as they lost 34-27 at home to Trafford.