A last-minute penalty completed a comeback that would have made Houdini envious as Workington registered their third win in five matches.

It enabled them to pip Aldwinians 31-28 at The Ellis and keep alive their hopes of staying up in North Lancs Cumbria.

Despite the lousy weather the game went ahead, albeit kick-off was put back for ten minutes due to the visitors being delayed in traffic on their way to the ground.

Conditions were pretty much Baltic and, despite their late arrival, Aldwinians dominated play from the opening whistle.

A well-drilled scrum ended with them crashing over the whitewash for an unconverted try after ten minutes.

Workington were clearly stung by this and, four minutes later, a swift attacking move led to Rob Hodgson slicing the visitors defence to ribbons before going under the posts for a fine try, which Kieran Mewse easily converted.

A penalty on 17 minutes put Aldwinians’ back in front and, following more pressure in Zebras territory, another three points extended the lead.

The match then began to get bogged down in midfield and, although there was a few promising moments of play, this was undone by clumsy handling errors from both sides.

On 38 minutes, Workington were down to 14 men after Ross Cape saw yellow for retaliation and Aldwinians grabbed full advantage of the extra man.

They delivered a hammer blow a minute later when another spell of sustained pressure saw them go over for their second try, which this time was converted.

Zebras were caught cold two minutes into the second half when the visitors increased their lead with another converted try after exploiting what was now becoming a very cumbersome backline.

With the score now 25-8, it seemed like the game was up for Workington - indeed, several spectators decided the time had come to head off in pursuit of warmer comforts.

But the return of Cape to the field gave Zebras a timely boost and, on 50 minutes, the arrears were reduced when determined scrummaging led to David Todhunter throwing himself over the line for a hard earned try, converted by Mewse.

Then six minutes later, it was Aldwinians’ turn to be a man down following a blatant obstruction, which was compounded a minute later with Cape ploughing his way into the corner for another try that Mewse once again converted. Suddenly the deficit was now down to just four points.

By this time, Workington were throwing everything at the visitors with Johnny Howarth, Cape, Mewse and especially Jack Todhunter all working overtime to produce wave after wave of dangerous play.

Their patience was rewarded ten minutes from time when Cape again broke through overstretched ranks to grab his second try and Zebras’ fourth, thus clinching at least a bonus point. Mewse kept his 100 per cent conversion record intact.

This was clearly the wake-up call Aldwinians needed, as straight from the restart they swamped their opponents’ half as they probed for an opening and this yielded a converted penalty on 75 minutes to level the scores.

It looked as though the match was going to end in a draw, but then in the last minute Workington were awarded a penalty - and Aldwinians again a man down - after another obstruction.

The deafening silence when Mewse calmly lined up the kick was eclipsed by the thunderous cheering after his successful attempt to secure a remarkable victory and one which may prove decisive come the end of the season.

Despite the surrounding fields being covered in snow on the approach to Kirkby Stephen, the town itself was completely clear with the Upper Eden pitch in good condition for the clash with Wigton.

The cold conditions did, however, play a part with many dropped balls interrupting the flow of the game as Wigton eventually ground out a 22-13 win.

Wigton started positively with a good early beak by Richard Moffatt, only for him to be held up on the ten metre line. The chance was lost as the referee awarded Upper Eden a penalty for obstruction.

A penalty on 21 minutes enabled Wigton to gain territory and, from a series of pick—and-goes, the ball was offloaded to the backs with Gregg Smith crashing over the line for the first try

The touch judges differed as to whether the conversion went between the posts and as such it was not given.

Four minutes later, Wigton were awarded a penalty for an infringement and Smith put a great kick into touch on the five metre line.

The line-out was caught and the forwards drove over the line with Andrew Brown touching down for Wigton’s second try. This time, there was no doubt over the conversion as it hit the upright but the lead had been doubled.

Upper Eden came back and, although Smith made a try-saving tackle in front of the posts, the hosts recycled the ball and scored in the corner.

Despite Wigton protests, there had been some crossing involved the try was awarded and converted.

On 32 minutes, the hosts were awarded a penalty for a Wigton player not moving away and the scores were levelled from the kick.

Just before half time, another great kick by Smith to the corner brought Wigton a line-out.

Once again, the forwards gathered the ball cleanly and the maul powered over the line with Peter Dobson touching down. The conversion was missed but Wigton held a half time lead of 15-10.

The second half began with more knock-ons by both sides and, when Wigton did gain some attacking momentum, the chances were lost.

On the hour, Upper Eden were awarded a penalty for a high tackle and the successful kick reduced the lead to two points.

The Wigton forwards started to take control and following a maul, the ball was recycled along the backs with Smith touching down in the corner to give Wigton a fourth try, and with it a bonus point. A tremendous conversion from the touch line gave Wigton a lead of 22-13.

Despite Upper Eden gaining a couple of penalties in the last couple of minutes, the Wigton defence held strong to see out the win.

Silloth stay bottom of the table after losing 48-14 against much-improved Hawcoat Park.

But 15 minutes from the end, there were only ten points in it before the south Cumbrians upped the tempo and ran away with the game.

The Tigers did, however, help create a bit of history as the game was played at Craven Park, the first full game of rugby union to take place at the home of the town’s professional rugby league team.

The unavailability of Hawcoat Park Sports and Social Club for the encounter saw the club come to an agreement with Barrow Raiders for use of the facilities.

Number eight forward Greg Wrathall scored both the Silloth tries, two fine individual efforts which first allowed the Tigers to turn round 19-7 down and the second to pull them back to 24-14. Luke Johnson converted both.