By Leipziger
March 29 2014

County rivals Kendal and Wigton shared nine tries in today's clash at Mint Bridge but it was the Hornets who won their first match in three to move up to third place in North One West.

Kendal overtook Widnes in the table as the Cheshire side were beaten heavily at Kirkby Lonsdale, and the hosts now look good to win the battle of the ‘rest’. They sit on 77 points, way behind centurions Wirral and Birkenhead Park with two games of the season remaining.

After a big crowd necessitated the opening of extra rooms in the Kendal clubhouse and the hiring of a burger van to replace the winter pie, and junior and development games raising the curtain, the home side looked to return to winning ways after their strong 2014 form was halted by consecutive defeats to Broughton Park and Widnes in recent weeks.

North Cumbrians Wigton were however hoping to get only their second win since the fourth of January, and banish any lingering fears of relegation.

Kendal started off the better team as a cool spring sun shone down onto the Heinz factory next door to Mint Bridge. Battering on the door to the Widnes tryline, captain scrum-half James Gough almost scrambled over but was brought back for a penalty. Gough tapped the ball into the corner a little too nonchalantly and it flew the wrong side of the corner flag.

Wigton also had an early chance, as their young left-winger broke through a tackle and sped down the touchline, but as the ball was fed left the visitors were penalised for holding on.

The away side did break the deadlock on ten minutes however. A break by Wigton’s fly-half from his own territory led to a two-on-one on the left, and after a pass inside to his outside centre, the inside centre caught another pass on the shoulder to score under the posts. Wigton’s big right-winger sent the conversion high into the light mist to put his team 0-7 up.

Kendal equalised when winger Jordan Johnson finished off a backs move towards the left, diving and touching down through a last-ditch tackle. Full-back Chris Park knocked over the conversion, which was interesting for the fact that Wigton’s touch judge put his flag up before the ball had gone through the posts, but his Kendal counterpart seemed a touch less certain.

With half an hour gone in a first half that was fragmented and littered with knock-ons despite the decent weather, Kendal took the lead for the first time. From a lineout, the hosts’ powerful rolling maul shoved Wigton’s pack backwards and the ball was touched down at the bottom. The conversion hung in the wind, but at 12-7 there was much optimism that Kendal could get another win to continue their respectable season.

The second half began with Kendal pulling away further, again courtesy of the rolling maul. Number eight James Thompson was the try-scorer, breaking through the maul and touching down on the line. Park’s conversion swerved wildly through the posts.

Wigton would not lie down however and after their inside centre was held up by the desperate Kendal defence under the posts, from the scrum one of the visitors’ replacements found a gap and scored just to the right of the sticks. The relatively simple conversion flew wide.

Kendal’s lead was extended to more than a converted score again with a penalty a quarter of an hour into the second period. After the hour, Kendal looked to have sealed their victory with the bonus-point try. A penalty was sent into touch in the 22 on the right, and this time it was flanker Liam Nicholson who got the ball down to give his side the extra point. Park’s extras made the score 29-12.

Still fighting, Wigton’s right-winger went on a run down the right and created a three-on-two but his inside pass went loose and forwards. However, the away side were not to be denied what looked to be a consolation through a forwards’ score, fighting over the line to reduce the deficit to ten points with as many minutes remaining.

Within two minutes, the gap had been halved. The visiting fly-half bamboozled the Kendal defence with a show-and-go on halfway, and turned two more defenders inside out, but as he was forced to touch down on the far right, the conversion flew across goal almost to the corner flag.

Kendal went back on the attack, trying to keep the ball tight in the Wigton 22 and see the game out but yet another lineout maul was finished off for Thompson’s second try of the day, the back-rower breaking through the second wave and diving onto the line. The conversion made the final score 36-24 to the Hornets.

Kendal’s next game on Saturday is a long trip to Wilmslow, before their season wraps up at against league-leaders Wirral at Mint Bridge in mid-April. Although promotion is not possible this season, the yellow and blacks will be confident of making a big impression on North One West in 2014/15 and move back up the leagues from next year.