Wigton's North Lancs Cumbria promotion hopes dented by former Barrow Raider Liam Harrison

The Greens had led 8-3 at the break but, inspired by replacement Liam Harrison, the former Barrow Raider RL forward, the south Cumbrians stormed back for a deserved win.

The game was played in dense fog on a heavy pitch and it wasn’t easy for the spectators to see exactly what was happening on the opposite side of the pitch.

But they did see Dan Reed give Wigton a second minute lead from a penalty.

This was soon cancelled out by a penalty for Hawcoat Park by George Smith and, on 15 minutes, Reed missed with his second effort at goal.

After 22 minutes, Wigton managed to win their own line-out and the forwards pushed towards the line with a series of pick and goes before the ball was passed out to the backs and Gregg Smith touched down for the first try.

Infringements gave Wigton two scrums on the Hawcoat Park five-metre line but the Liverpool-based referee surprisingly chose to penalise the Greens on both occasions for feeding.

They should have increased their lead from a penalty on the 22-metre line but the ball rebounded off the post and the half-time lead stayed at 8-3.

Hawcoat Park started the second half by winning their own kick-off and, without Wigton regaining the ball, the home forwards drove through to create a try which was converted.

Wigton hit back after a good kick from Smith was hacked-on by Richard Moffatt and he managed to out-run the defensive cover to touch down for the try which Reed converted.

Now trailing 15-13, Hawcoat Park were fired up and Wigton were coming under severe pressure but a good break by Ryan Clark relieved the pressure and they were awarded a penalty on the home 15-metre line.

Despite Wigton being dominant in the scrum but considerably less so in the line-outs, a decision was taken to go for the latter. Hawcoat Park claimed the ball which was then kicked 50 metres downfield into touch.

Once again, the hosts won the Wigton throw in and their forwards charged forward, with Harrison touching down for a second try to regain the lead at 18-15.

Hawcoat Park were now showing why they are a force to be reckoned with this season and Wigton had their backs to the wall, unable to get out of their own half.

The constant pressure told and it was the influential Harrison who created the home side’s third try, which was converted.

In the time left, Wigton continued to defend heroically and captain David Hanabury took the full force of a powerful Hawcoat Park charge which left him with a nasty injury.

After a lengthy period of treatment, he was able to leave the field and will hopefully make a quick recovery.

Relegation threatened Workington started 2017 just as they ended 2016 - with another crushing defeat.

Having come unstuck at bottom club Silloth just before Christmas, they suffered their 13th defeat of what has become a desperate league campaign as runaway leaders Carlisle racked up five tries at The Ellis in a 31-0 whitewash.

For the opening 15 minutes, both sides took time to find their feet in what was their first match for three weeks, with action mostly taking place in the middle.

After missing two penalty attempts, Carlisle began to raise their game and proceeded to hit the Zebras with a double sucker punch as they carved out openings to score two converted tries in a minute.

F rom a line-out on the Workington 22, the Carlisle pack drove the West Cumbrian side back, and spreading the ball wide, Dan Holmes managed to find the gap in the home defence for the first Carlisle try converted by Jason Israel.

From the restart, the ball was returned back by Carlisle, catching the Workington full-back off guard.

Having been caught in possession by Tom Percival, the flanker robbed the ball, before feeding Guy Graham who sprinted through the last defenders to cross under the posts for the second try.

More often than not this season Workington heads have gone down after falling behind, but this time round, they began to probe their visitors with some neat play and dangerous moves, especially from Bede O'Connor, Bob Hodgson and Shaun Murphy.

But the visitors rode-out the storm and then responded in kind with their third converted try following a successful kick over the Workington defence.

The footrace for the ball was won by Ben Purdham, who beat the full-back to dot the ball under the posts.

The bonus point came on 26 minutes, as Purdham again showed a turn of pace to beat the defenders down the left side, and fend off the last Workington defender to score in the left corner.

Significant blood injuries in the space of a few minutes, disrupted the Carlisle side, as they had to regroup after losing two prominent players from the pack, for the rest of the game.

For long periods of the second half, it was a quiet affair as both sides once again dominated the middle, but it was Workington who exerted pressure in their opponents' half with more surges from O' Connor and Hodgson while Murphy and Ross Cape continued to be efficient and creative with their possession.

The Warwick Road side’s defence held firm, spending most of the last quarter repelling sustained attacks from Workington.

It was from one of the few forays up the park, after a leg-pumping drive deep into the Workington 22 by Lewis Fuller, that the ball was spun wide for winger Luke Davidson to dive over for the final score in the 70th minute.