Off to a Winning Start....

Whilst Wigton struggled to recapture their attacking fluency of last season, Aspatria couldn't summon up the fierce commitment which saw them upset the odds to win the Cup a few months ago. Both teams found it difficult to adapt to the steady wind and neither side demonstrated a lot of creativity in attack, although there was plenty of uncompromising defensive play.

Wigton had the first use of the wind, but quickly found themselves penalised whilst in possession of the ball at a ruck, giving fly half Jack Clegg the chance to open the scoring for the visitors. As he lined up his kick, Norman Reilly was leaving the field injured, his comeback for Aspatria barely lasting two minutes. For Wigton, Gregg Smith, at fly half, tried to use the wind with a long penalty effort in reply, but his kick passed under the bar. Early in the half he tried to kick for position, only to see the wind carry the ball dead. This seemed to make Wigton wary of employing a kicking game at times.

The scores were levelled shortly afterwards. Wigton moved the ball left from a scrum and full back Callum Studholme produced a well timed pass to give Jordan Wood an overlap on the left wing. Wood was tackled, but quick ball found The Aspatria defence offside. 3-3.

At this stage Aspatria were enjoying their fair share of possession, but were unable to breech the strong tackling defensive line. That was until Clegg tried something different with a little dink behind the defence. With Aspatria on the attack, it was Wigton's turn to be penalised, but everyone was surprised to see the normally reliable Clegg miss, what for him, was a fairly straightforward chance. He made amends a couple of minutes later when he was awarded a penalty for a late challenge on him. This time he made no mistake, nudging Aspatria into a 6-3 lead.

Defences continued to be on top and home supporters were somewhat anxious as the half ticked on without any advantage being derived from playing with the wind. Aspatria, too, had problems. Most noticeably at the lineouts where they struggled to throw in straight with the breeze. At scrums, Wigton's experienced hooker Steven Carruthers, after a season away from first team rugby, was starting to take ball against the head.

After 26 minutes Wigton had a good passage of play as centre Richard Moffatt seemed to have found a gap, but he lost his footing at a most inopportune time, and the defence rallied. However, Aspatria were shortly afterwards penalised by referee Dean Lythgoe. Smith levelled the score at 6-6.

With just over half an hour gone, the game had been scrappy with neither side able to impose themselves. However, the visitors were the more satisfied of the teams, having played into the wind and kept their line intact.

However, it was at this point that Wigton found a winning tactic in the shape of a driving maul. Second row Robert Marrs used his ability to stay on his feet to gather his pack around him and then generate some momentum from a standing start. Aspatria were whistled for pulling the maul down, enabling Smith to put Wigton 9-6 up, with half time approaching.

However, there was more to come. Aspatria were penalised for a high tackle and this time Smith kicked for the corner. From the lineout Wigton drove the maul and new skipper Andy Brown claimed the try. Smith added the extras to give Wigton a 16-6 lead at the break, a more satisfactory state of affairs than a few minutes earlier.

Nevertheless, Aspatria would have felt that with the wind at their backs, this was not an insurmountable lead. However, as the second half progressed, Aspatria were let down by imprecision at the scrum and line, and were unable to generate enough possession to mount many sustained attacks.

From the kick off, Aspatria made a mess of clearing the ball. Scrum half Jason Ward was caught at the base of a scrum and the ball ended up in touch. Wigton won the line and moved the ball through hands to the left flank. It was recycled and passed back the other way to Marrs in midfield. He almost stood still, but made contact with a wide base. The Wigton forwards gathered around him and drove for the line. Aspatria were only able to stop the try illegally and Mr Lythgoe had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try. Smith's conversion gave Wigton a comfortable looking 23-6 lead.

That was soon reduced by a penalty when Wigton were penalised for obstruction at a scrum. The slightly-built Clegg made easy work of a long range kick which went between the posts at a considerable height. 23-9.

Aspatria felt they were in with a chance, but struggled to take their chances. After Wigton were penalised for bringing down a maul, Aspatria fancied their chances of copying the Wigton try-scoring method. Clegg set up the position with a kick to the corner, but the throw at the line was not straight.

Wigton seemed reluctant to put boot to ball into the wind, but tried to work their way upfield with the ball in hand. This approach was only partially successful: often the ball was lost forward or a pass failed to go to hand. On the other hand, Aspatria now struggled to capitalise on Wigton mistakes, as their scrum was in great difficulties in the last quarter. Aspatria had to make several changes at prop; some tactical, some though injury. When second row Dave Preston was withdrawn, the Black Red pack looked underpowered and short of ballast. Tom Lindsay and Mark Beverley were tireless in their efforts, but the Wigton pack waxed strong.

Midway through the half, Wigton were looking comfortable. They were able to keep Aspatria at a distance. The defensive line speed was good and Aspatria found it tricky to cross the gain line. The excellent Clegg continued to try to conjure up a move to break through. Full back Lee Tinnion tried to join attacks but was usually well marshalled by the Wigton backs. Richard Moffatt and Will Miller were prominent in breaking up Apatria attacks.

However, just when Aspatria's challenge seemed to be petering out, Clegg orchestrated to move of the match. He first got his team attacking on the left flank and then, as the backs realigned, he produced a splendid pass to put Haycock through a gap. As he entered the Wigton 22, he offloaded to the supporting Tinnion. He was tackled short of the line, but had the physical presence to enable him to reach out and score. Clegg added the conversion to make the score 23-16. Another converted try would level the scores.

However, Wigton tried to keep the ball out of Aspatria's hands for as long as possible. When Wigton were awarded a penalty, rather than kick for touch and risk the caprice of the wind at a lineout, they preferred to tap and set up mauls. Aspatria had one last chance when Clegg put a penalty kick to the corner, but when they tried a catch and drive, they were unable to get any change out of the Wigton pack who comfortably smothered the drive and held up the ball. When the final whistle blew, few in the ground would argue with the fairness of the result, both both teams will feel that they can play better, and indeed, will need to, in league games.

Aspatria will be able to bring in marquee signing Ian MacDowell, and on other occasions will be able to keep their bigger forwards on the pitch for longer. Also Heine Jonker or Tony Nicholson may give them more robustness at the base of the scrum.

As for Wigton, they will at least be satisfied with another win over Aspatria. Absentees for this match included David Hanabury, Mark Lee and Andrew Bell so they will eventually slot back in. Returnee Stuart Creighton was going pretty well till he picked up a knock, whilst Tom Gardner brings obvious physicality to the back line. Steven Green, coming on at prop, ran with a lot of aggression to give coach Brown plenty to think about before the league match at home to Leigh next week.