Carlisle won the North Lancs Cumbria championship in style when they beat Trafford MV 60-7 at Warwick Road.

Relegated last season, Carlisle have bounced back in style under new head coach David Stout to win the league with two games still to play.

Stout said: “I couldn’t be more pleased for the players and the club.

"It was lovely to see so many smiling faces around the clubhouse and plenty of empty champagne bottles in the changing rooms.”

It didn’t take Carlisle long to open the scoring when, with just five minutes gone, Josh Holmes crashed over after a catch and drive from a line-out.

Their second came as Trafford won a line-out and kicked to clear their lines. The ball, though, went straight to winger Dan Homes and he punted a cross-field kick to Matty Roper on the opposite wing.

He fed an inside ball to centre Ben Purdham who was in space for a stroll across the line.

The third try was scored on 23 minutes as full-back James Rocke’s mazy run through the Trafford defence caught them flat-footed and he managed to fend off the last defender to score near the posts.

Trafford tried to get into the game from the restart and only a try saving tackle by Rocke prevented the visitors getting on the score sheet.

However it was Carlisle who would score again, securing the title clinching bonus point before half-time. As the ball was worked across the park from the back of a scrum, it gave Dan Holmes the chance to dive over in the left corner.

It was Holmes who created the next try in the second half as a break by him down the park gave Carlisle the opportunity to work the ball across the backs.

It ended with Jason Israel cleverly off-loading to captain Tom Graham to go over in the right corner.

Carlisle were in the ascendency now and, from a scrum in front of the posts, the ball was again worked across the park for replacement full-back Andy Glendinning to touchdown in the right corner for their sixth try.

Carlisle had clearly spotted a weakness here as their seventh came from a line-out on the left, with the ball again moved across the backline for Roper to round the defence in the right corner and score under the posts.

It wasn’t all one way though, as Trafford got points on the board with ten minutes to go before Josh Holmes then bagged his second try as he sprinted from the back of a scrum on half way to dive under the posts.

Then just to prove the point that front-rowers can score 50-metre tries, captain Graham got the loudest applause of the day as he sprinted from the half-way line to score in the left corner.

It was left to Roper to score the last try of the day under the posts, converted by scrum-half James Telford, his fifth of the game.