Wigton beat Aspatria in Classic Contest!

There was a time, not so very long ago, when a match between Wigton and Aspatria was the clash of the titans, a contest for supremacy in Cumbrian rugby. Neither side would claim to be quite at that level at the moment, but even when they were the dominant teams in the region they didn’t produce anything so exciting, dramatic and incident packed as yesterday’s encounter. Wigton showed great spirit, determination and no little skill to haul down the colours of their arch rivals in an epic encounter at Lowmoor Road.

In fairness, the first half was nothing to write home about as both sides struggled for continuity. Territorially, Wigton had the better of things, but then they had the benefit of the stiff breeze. There was an early missed penalty attempt from full back Josh Leeson and centre Stephen Harris continued his strong running form of recent weeks by making the first half break. Penalties gave Wigton good field position in the Aspatria 22 but Wigton were careless with possession and failed to turn the screw.

Aspatria’s first threat came when a nicely weighted pass put centre Heine Jonker through a gap and he made further ground by bouncing a tackler off his circular frame. Intriguingly Jonker was wearing a different top from the rest of his team. There was a theory on the touchlines that the club had introduced age related shirts for the over forties, but hey, who knows? His foray gave Aspatria a scrum on Wigton’s 22 metre line. A couple of moves one way, then the other, saw winger Kenneth Bowes look certain to score. However, he decided to try to jump into the last tackle (something he had tried more subtly earlier) and referee Ciaran Trainer awarded a penalty to Wigton for dangerous play. Bowes was to have a somewhat schizophrenic afternoon as he alternated between hero and villain.

However Wigton failed to make the most of their reprieve and from the resulting lineout got in a fumble as Aspatria gratefully took control of the ball. It was not long before Bowes had another run for the line, a carbon copy of his first chance, and this time he finished in conventional fashion to give Aspatria a 0-5 lead.

Wigton were trying to exert pressure in the visitors’ 22 as a high tackle, not the last of the afternoon, and a trend which ultimately tested the referee’s patience, gave Wigton a penalty from which they set up a lineout close to the Black Red tryline. The forwards assaulted the line with a series of pick and goes but became a little predictable and hurried in execution, resulting in the defence winning a penalty.

Wigton won the lineout ball on Aspatria’s throw and drew another penalty for a high tackle on stand off Lewis Plackett. This set up another close lineout. Again possession was turned over but Aspatria were struggling to clear their lines, being reluctant to kick into the wind. They tried to work their way down field by using their pack but Wigton’s defence was equal to the task. Eventually second row Richard Miller was isolated and Wigton were awarded a penalty for holding on. Leeson kicked the points to make the score 3-5.

From the restart Wigton fluffed their lines somewhat, passing the ball back into the 22 and then kicking it straight into touch. This gave Aspatria a lineout on the home 22. After an initial catch and drive, play moved to a more central position where Wigton’s defence was penalised. This was to be a fairly straightforward opportunity for Jack Clegg to extend the lead, but an incident of ill discipline lead to the referee reversing the penalty. As part of a bigger picture, Wigton’s superior discipline on the day played a large part in their eventual win. The half was played out in midfield with neither side putting together any telling passages of play.

Come half time Wigton had edged the game in terms of possession and territory but Aspatria had the narrow lead and were probably feeling confident now having the elements in their favour. That is not exactly how things played out.

The first significant action of the second half and arguably the key event of the game involved Matthew Atkinson and Lewis Plackett. Plackett had just passed the ball when he was taken late by the big second row in what looked to be a no arms challenge. Atkinson was spoken to by the referee but many thought him fortunate to escape a yellow card. However, the effect on Plackett was stunning. Perhaps motivated by a sense of injustice he became transformed into the most dangerous player on the field as he turned the game Wigton’s way with a hatrick of tries.

The Wigton team as whole, at least in attack, now underwent a change and, taking the half as a whole, showed greater composure and skill retaining the ball well and setting up try scoring chances. Runs from the likes of centres Moffatt and Harris and wingers Lewis and Leeson had more strength and determination to them as more and more Wigton played the game on the front door. Fergus Ledingham at scrumhalf kept the fringe defence guessing while clearing the ball for the breakdowns with greater purpose. In the pack Robert Marrs was tireless, offering himself for carries again and again as he churned out the hard yards. Fraser Ledingham rescued fifty fifty balls on the deck and Nathan Bell was usually there as second carrier after a Marrs rumble, whilst Greg Wrathall was in the thick of everything.

Initially there was an anti climax as Wigton ran the ball from the penalty and immediately dropped it. However on the ensuing Aspatria scrum the Green front row exerted pressure and the usually reliable Gary Hodgson at the base of the visitors scrum was not able to cleanup that particular mess with a knock on coming and Wigton getting the put in.

Some rugby gurus assert that in the modern game you can’t attack from first phase scrum ball. Lewis Plackett turned that particular theory on its head as he produced some mesmerising footwork to jink through the first line of defence and head towards the 22. With full back Miller in front of him he repeated the footwork treatment and hurled himself over the line between the posts. Leeson converted to give Wigton a 10-5 lead.

Aspatria of course did not roll over and twice regained the lead, but what was telling was that from this point on Wigton played with a level of confidence and self belief which lead them to think that however many points Aspatria scored, they could score more. The level of accuracy in execution also increased impressively.

In truth Aspatria were not long in hitting back with a try coming from some good footwork of their own. Centre Ryan Scott made the break with neat little jink and then turned back on himself, as it were, to pass to the unmarked Bowes. Clegg easily converted to give Aspatria a 10-12 lead.

It was not long before that lead was extended when for the first time in the game Hodgson was able to make appreciable ground from the base of a scrum. This resulted in a try for Andrew Miller which Wigton were not altogether happy with as the ball seemed to travel forwards from a tackled player into Miller’s hands. The referee may have deemed it dragged out by a Wigton defender. With the TMO still on order, Clegg’s conversion pushed the score to 10-19.

Wigton reshaped their team with a couple of influential changes from the bench. Dan Reed came to fly half with Plackett going to full back and Leeson onto the wing. The unit worked well and quick ball stretched the defence out wide. James Wilson, whose Wigton career has been a litany of injuries, joined the pack and immediately made a series of strong carries.

Once again a penalty gave Wigton a lineout in Aspatria’s 22. The Greens executed a powerful catch and drive which made good ground, only being halted by illegal means. With the referee playing advantage, Dan Reed did what stand offs on telly do and punted the ball wide behind the defence. There was a bit of bobbling about but the upshot was that Plackett gleefully claimed his second try. The conversion into the wind was a tall order but Wigton were right back in the game at 15-19.

From the restart Wigton made steady progress through their forwards working the ball back into the opposition half. When it was passed along the backs Leeson was looking dangerous and was on the receiving end of another high tackle. This was one too many for the referee and he despatched Bowes, the offender, to the bin for ten minutes. Soon Aspatria had the chance to clear their lines when Wigton were penalised for holding on, but Wigton won the ball on the Black Red throw around halfway. Wilson made a powerful drive and then the ball was whipped along the line to Plackett, now getting himself in the wide channel. With space in front of him he opted to chip ahead. The ball landed between himself and Miller at full back but crucially bounced up away from Miller into Plackett’s arms and he ran clear for his third try of the half. The conversion made the score 22-19.

With time running out, although there had been a lot of stoppages, the game was now Wigton’s to lose. Aspatria kicked deep, knowing they would get the ball back from the resulting clearance. This they duly did but Wigton won a key turnover. The ball was passed again to Plackett. He opted for the chip into the 22 again, but this time Clegg was lying in wait. He send the ball up the touchline where it rolled tantalisingly and bounced its way into the home 22. There was no panic from the home supporters as Wigton had four defenders back in pretty quick time. The safe play would be a kick to touch to defend the narrow lead. Had that happened we would have been deprived of the dramatic finish but the blood pressure of those watching would have been substantially lower. As it was, an “anonymous” Wigton player decided to head infield and then when he was tackled opted for a highly speculative offload. This went to an Aspatria player and resulted in flanker Phil Dixon eagerly scoring under the sticks, although defenders close to the action thought the detected a fumble. Nevertheless Clegg kicked the extras and with a 22-26 lead Aspatria probably thought they had got out of jail. However, they were only out on licence and as they committed further offences the parole board reviewed the case..........

Wigton, sensing a last chance, launched a series of powerful drives edging further and further into the Aspatria half. Knowing that any handling errors could prove fatal, concentration was excellent and build up patient. Aspatria, who now looked only the second fittest team on the park became flustered and conceded penalties under pressure. Wigton had a kick in the Aspatria 22 and the plan was to kick for a lineout on the five metre line. That plan didn’t work because the ball went into the in goal area and instead of Wigton having a penalty 5 metres out, Aspatria had a chance to relieve the pressure with a 22 drop out.

That, of course, gave Wigton the ball back and they set out to initiate the attacking process again. Under pressure once more, Aspatria infringed and Wigton had a midfield penalty to try and get into the 22. Unfortunately the ball was sliced infield. Aspatria opted for a raking clearance kick to the far side but this gave Wigton the ball again. With deja vu now being par for the course, Aspatria offended again. This time Wigton made no mistake and successfully found touch deep in the 22. The lineout was won and the forwards worked their way to the line with an air of inevitability. The coup de grace was delivered by Wilson who crashed over near the posts. Just to add to the tension Reed missed the conversion from straight in front, but a Wigton had the vital 27-26 lead.

In an ideal world the referee would have blown for time but he decided that play should restart. Wigton caught the ball, kept it safe for a couple of phases and then, assured by the referee that time was up, Reed launched it safely over the dead ball line to end a memorable encounter.

This was the highlight of Wigton’s season so far and it could be claimed with some justice that the result was fair reward for the better side. The second half in particular showed the Greens performing with flair and aplomb. Hopefully this showing will give the team the confidence to finish the season with a good run of wins.