Another lesson for Wigton

On Saturday Wigton made the long journey to face Wirral who were comfortably placed in the league, the Cumbrians were still not at full strength but still were very positive about the game. This confidence was apparent when, with their first attack, Tom Gardner who was threat all afternoon, cut clean through the Wirral midfield defence and went 50m before handing the ball off to the impressive full back Gregg Smith who scored wide out on the left. The score was not converted but Wigton were 5-0 ahead within 3mins.

As is symptomatic of their season the Greens then let their hosts back into the game against the run of play and pressure that Wigton had been applying well. An interception try brought Wirral back into the game and poor defence and discipline enabled the home side to pull away to an unassailable lead in the first half. David Hanabury did add 2 penalties in the first half to give Wigton hope but it was not nearly enough. To make matters worse Hanabury who has been in tremendous form had a re-occurrence of a hamstring injury which will put him out of action possibly until after Christmas.

Stern words from captain Matthew Atkinson did have an effect on the greens at half time and they did rally to produce a much improved defensive performance in the second half and although the away side could not add anymore to the total they were able to limit the home team to few points in the second half.

Wigton again scored enough points to win the game, but conceded too many soft points either through missed tackles or penalties near their line. They also applied most of the pressure in the game but showed a lack of precision when the try line was in the offing. They need to address these issues immediately to save their season. They will hope to do this on Saturday, travelling to the Wirral again to face Anselmians which is a must win game for the Cumbrians.