Home dominance wins the day

Keswick opened the scoring from a lineout penalty as Wigton were deemed to have illegally stopped a drive. Scrum half Storey gratefully accepted the three points.

Wigton set up good field position from the restart. Fergus Ledingham fielded the ball and passed to full back Josh Leeson who put in a good run with a heavy carry from Robert Marrs keeping the momentum going. Keswick gave away a penalty for a tip tackle on winger Charles Studholme, although no yellow card was shown. The kick gave Wigton an attacking lineout deep in the Keswick 22. Unfortunately the visitors were unable to secure the ball at both that line and the subsequent line. A penalty saw a quick reversal of fortune as a penalty gave Keswick field position in Wigton’s 22.

Oliver Lewis on the right wing pulled off a try saving tackle but the home team regrouped and moved the ball to their right wing. The defenders were numbered up but a simple missed tackle gave Keswick winger Cornforth the space to score. Storey converted to push Keswick out to 10-0.

Once again Wigton worked good field position but were unable to secure their own lineout ball. Shortly afterwards a backs move was ended by a knock on, but at least Wigton won a penalty which stand off Dan Reed converted for a 10-3 scoreline.

Keswick restarted with a deep kick and the Wigton clearance missed touch round half way. One quick pass put left winger Weir on his way to score from forty yards for a 15-3 lead.

Once again Wigton were unable to capitalise on possession in the Keswick half. Prop Lindsay Walker left the field injured and the Wigton scrum came under pressure as a result. He was replaced by Mark Trow with John Storey moving up to prop. In the rest of the match one of the encouraging points for Wigton was the carrying of Trow who ran hard and straight, invariably crossing the gain line. Wigton ended the half on the attack but this move fizzled out when the ball carrier was tackled into touch.

As the second half opened Keswick were unable to make the most of a couple of penalties, one given for what appeared to be Marrs carrying the ball and leading with the forearm, an offence which has recently been added to the list of offences for referees to look out for. Wigton’s best period of play so far saw some good continuity and phases play take the ball for one 22 metre line to the other, only for the ball to be dropped.

Keswick seemed to be winning a steady stream of scrum penalties enabling them to improve their field position with ease. Their next attack drew a penalty from Wigton for offside which Storey kicked to make the score 18-3, although he missed another penalty a few minutes later.

With the chips well and truly down, David Hanabury sparked Wigton into life, twice being involved in the creation of a try. First he made a break and then produced a superb off load to Marrs putting the big man behind the defence. Hanabury took the ball again and his quick feet beat defenders to shred the defence as he found Ledingham with a final pass and the scrum half scored. Lesson added a well struck conversion. At 18-10 there was a chink of light for Wigton.

However, Keswick quickly slammed the door shut by scoring two more tries in the closing stages of the game. First, another penalty gave Keswick a lineout on the five metre line and prop Tait was able to bustle over to make the score 23-10.

Then in the last minute Keswick’s full back Wallace kicked the ball down the middle of the park from near half way. The bounce had the defenders all at sea and Wallace took advantage to claim at try which Storey converted for a 30-10 final score.

Wigton will be looking to hit good form next week when Upper Eden visit Lowmoor Road.