Strong 2nd half not enough for Greens

A dominant first half performance set Aspatria on their way to a 18-5 win over local rivals Wigton. Although the second half brought a big improvement in the Wigton performance, Aspatria's first half efforts had given them enough of a buffer.

In the first half, Wigton rarely had the ball in the home half, much less the 22. Aspatria's first period of pressure came when Wigton knocked on at a lineout in their own 22. At the resulting scrum, Wigton got a shove on, but Aspatria were able to keep the ball. They then attacked the Wigton line, mainly through close quarter work with their forwards, drawing a penalty on the line when Wigton had hands in the ruck. Fly half Jack Clegg slotted the points, although some of the Aspatria players would perhaps have liked to have seen advantage played.

From the restart Wigton were caught offside. Shortly afterwards they were penalised for not rolling away. An exchange of opinion with referee Mitchelhill over the accuracy of his decision saw the penalty advanced by ten metres enabling Clegg to double the home lead to 6-0.

However, the Black-Reds were soon reduced to 14 men. A penalty seemed to be coming for Aspatria when Wigton centre Richard Moffatt went off his feet at a ruck. However, Aspatria prop Ian McDowell decided to assist the ball to emerge, whilst at the same time encouraging Moffatt to remove himself from the vicinity of the ball. However, his foot came down perilously close to Moffatt's head, so he was shown the yellow card.

Wigton spurned the chance to make progress by missing touch with the penalty. With the Wigton forwards on their way to a lineout that never happened, they were short of numbers on the left. The angular Liam Ridley, all knees and elbows, carried strongly into the Wigton 22. When a penalty came, this time Aspatria popped it into the corner. However, the subsequent throw sailed over all the Aspatria jumpers and was grabbed by Andrew Brown, Wigton's grateful flanker. A penalty came to Wigton allowing them to clear the ball. The next piece of play brought a high tackle from Aspatria and a penalty to Wigton.

However, Wigton were penalised for being too slow to enter the lineout and Aspatria once again moved the ball quickly and found space. Strong runs by winger Mark Lister and No 8 Gary Hodgson took play into the Wigton 22. Brave play from fly half David Hanabury, who dropped on a loose ball, let Wigton to scramble the ball away. However, Aspatria came roaring straight back. A well weighted pass put flanker Phil Dixon through a gap. He ran into the 22, passing to centre Andrew Miller in support. He had enough room to wrong foot the last two defenders and dive over for the try. Clegg added the conversion for a 13-0 scoreline.

Wigton's efforts to get back in the game continued to be frustrated. Full back Gregg Smith was held up in possession and from the scrum Aspatria worked an overlap for full back Jason Ward, but the covering defence got to him and turned the ball over. Frustratingly, clearance kicks continued to be indifferent, inviting Aspatria's back three to run the ball back. Wigton seemed confused at their own lineout which meant that when penalties found touch, the ball was not necessarily secured. The best part of Wigton's play had been their defence, and without some determined tackling, the score line would have been greater.

When the half time whistle blew, there was no doubt over who was more relieved to hear it. Aspatria had been dominant both in terms of possession and territory, with Wigton offering little discernible threat to the home line.

Aspatria started the second half in similar vein. The first five minutes were spent with them assaulting Wigton's try line. Wigton put the Aspatria scrum under pressure, but Hodgson was marvellous at No 8, picking up the ball from a retreating scrum and then making ground with it.

Wigton finally started to play with some purpose as Hanabury and Charters found touch in the Aspatria 22 with a series of much better kicks. It was now Aspatria's turn to be hemmed into their own half. Wigton's backs now became a factor in the game with Hanabury looking for gaps in a broken field and it was Aspatria defence which started to look stretched.

Aspatria's lineout came under pressure and Wigton No8 Stuart Creighton latched onto a loose palmed ball to take Wigton on the attack. Wigton retained the ball well in the 22 and it was passed to Owen Bonney on the right wing. He still had plenty to do and finished strongly, breaking through two tackles to score. Charters was unable to add the conversion from the touch line, but Wigton were in the game at 13-5.

Wigton were soon back in Aspatria's 22 and The home defence was starting to look increasing flustered. Several times they had Hodgson to thank for turning bad ball into usable possession. Without just under ten minutes left, a penalty took Wigton to about seven metres out. Hanabury broke the line twice but scrambling defence caught him. With the ball in Wigton's possession at a ruck on the try line, a defender very obviously laid on the wrong side killing the ball. The referee held out an arm to indicate a penalty to Wigton. At this point second row Robert Marrs, who had been the heartbeat of Wigton's pack in attack and defence, forgot it was not the eighties anymore and came up with some traditional rucking. Perhaps he was trying to assist the referee by using a foot to indicate the offending buttocks. Unfortunately for Wigton, the referee reversed his decision and showed Marrs a yellow card. That effectively killed off Wigton's remaining chances.

Shortly afterwards Ridley made a damaging run, shrugging off several tacklers. With Marrs in the bin and two others injured in back play, Wigton were short handed so when the ball was moved to the opposite side, there were men over and centre Gary Bethwaite raced over for the decisive score.

At 18-5 Wigton went looking for a try to salvage a bonus point. Smith put in a teasing kick for Bonney to chase. The winger seemed to be impeded in his run for the ball by someone who has played for both of today's teams, but nothing came of it.

Wigton's last gasp came when Hanabury found a gap and ran up to halfway. Old school coaches used to urge defenders, "They can't run without their legs." Lee Tinnion's tackle on Hanabury showed that running without your head is quite tricky as well. With time all but up, the referee opted for a yellow card, but it could easily have been one of a deeper hue. From the penalty Wigton had time to show what a driving maul would look like if you were able to move the ball to the back before making contact with defenders. The resulting penalty for Aspatria brought proceedings to an end.

In all fairness, Aspatria were worthy winners, if only for their powerful first half. The second half was a much more even contest as Wigton played with more structure and purpose. For Aspatria Hodgson and Ridley figured prominently whilst for the Greens, Hanabury looked sharp and Marrs, yellow card notwithstanding, put in a huge effort in the pack. The 'front five' also confirmed their ongoing improvement as a unit having the 'edge' at scrum time throughout the game. Next week is free, giving Smith and Bonney, who left the field injured, an extra week to recover.