Keswick increase their lead at the top of North Lancs/Cumbria

On a wet and heavy pitch, both sides attempted to play a similar style, using the forwards to drive upfield before attempting to use the strong wind to kick for position.

This tactic was more successful for Fleetwood during the first half in that their heavier forwards were able to gain more distance in attack.

There seemed to be penalty after penalty for offside, mostly against Fleetwood, culminating in a successful kick by Andy Muir after 12 minutes to give Keswick the lead.

Both sides defended well and were able to prevent the opposition from making good use of the ball.

With both defences on top, neither side looked like scoring until a Fleetwood player took a pass in the Keswick 22 and stepped inside to score a try which was converted on 32 minutes.

Three minutes later, Fleetwood scored another converted try in a similar position, this time resulting from poor defensive play and poor ball retention.

Keswick turned round 14-3 in arrears and the second half continued in a similar mode.

Fleetwood continued to give away penalties, allowing Keswick to kick deep and retain possession.

From one of these penalties inside the opposition 22, Keswick took a quick tap, running the ball right for Muir to crash over for an unconverted try.

Just as Fleetwood had in the first half, Keswick scored again almost straight away.

A poor kick and chase from the kick-off allowed Keswick to make inroads into the Fleetwood 22 for Ryan Weir to take the final pass and touch down to the left of the posts. Muir converted for a 15-14 lead.

Penalties continued to dog Fleetwood, who gave away about four times as many as there were scrums, and this helped to relieve the pressure on Keswick as well as give them field position and possession.

Eighteen minutes into the half, a penalty from Muir extended their lead but, at this point, the game could have gone either way as the teams were well matched.

Then, poor defence following a scrum allowed Weir to cross after 28 minutes and Keswick had a nine-point advantage.

It took good defence from Keswick to keep out their hosts but giving away penalties was Fleetwood’s undoing. One of these was put over by Muir.

A kick through by Muir allowed Harry Vaillant to hack on and win the chase to the line for Keswick’s fourth and bonus point try.

Fleetwood still did not give up and continued to attack at every opportunity.

The pressure eventually told and, from a Fleetwood scrum on the Keswick line, their number eight was able to pick up and drive for a converted try.

Wigton travelled to Eccles with eight players unavailable from last week’s convincing victory over Burnley but they still recorded their first away win of the season.

It was an excellent effort as the Greens dominated for most of the match after taking a third-minute lead with a Ryan Clark penalty.

After four consecutive penalties, the referee lost his patience and showed a yellow card to the home side. From the ensuing scrum, Dave Hanabury weaved his way past a couple of defenders to score Wigton’s first try on 26 minutes. Clark converted.

Three minutes later, a period of great passing play allowed Hanabury to burst through a gap before offloading to Elliot Armstrong who dived over the line for the second try, again converted by Clark.

Although there were no further scores in the second half, Wigton’s scrum was excellent pushing back Eccles time after time while the line-out was dominant with Jamie Warwick disrupting nearly every one of Eccles’ own throws.

Aspatria completed an astonishing comeback at bottom of the table Hawcoat Park to edge out the south Cumbrians 18-17.

The game lacked quality but had more than its fair share of drama and controversy as Aspatria watched the hosts run up a 17-0 lead with only 20 odd minutes on the clock.

Park took the lead with a Will Coles penalty after nine minutes when Aspatria were penalised for hands in the ruck.

The visitors looked most likely to score the first try of the game when a sustained attack in the home 22 looked near certain to bring a reward.

After several phases, the ball was mishandled and Hawcoat Park pounced on the ball, moving it into the hands of left winger, Rodney Odondi, who raced 60 metres to score. Cole converted.

On 23 minutes, the scoreboard moved to 17-0 when lively full-back Blain Marwood took advantage of a position created by his hardworking forwards and darted over.

Aspatria were rocking but the side contains plenty of old heads and they set about hauling the team back into contention.

Joe Anderson had a try disallowed but, back in the home 22, the Black Reds won the ball on the right flank.

The back division worked a move across field where Andrew Miller joined the line from full-back to crash over in the corner.

When a penalty was conceded, Aspatria never gave thought to three points. The ball was quickly tapped to feed second row Matthew Atkinson stationed on the right wing and he encountered little resistance on his charge over the line.

The half finished 17-10 in favour of the home side but there was no doubt that it was the visitors who had the momentum.

The home side started the second period by mounting a series of attacks on the Aspatria line but they could not break down a resolute defence.

Failure to score during this time proved a turning point in the game. On 50 minutes, following a series of penalties, Aspatria positioned themselves close to the try line where Atkinson again used his bulk to barrel over the line for Aspatria’s third try.

With 60 minutes gone, Aspatria took a pragmatic view of proceedings and rather than chase a bonus-point try gave Craig Foster an opportunity to send a penalty between the sticks to establish the lead for the first time – which he did.

Aspatria went on to win the game but shouldn’t have done.

Twic, Chris Park should have taken shots at goal from bang in front but opted for a tap each time, when the ball was quickly lost.