Perfect Start!

Report by Michael Penrice.

Wigton's first try had its origins in a turnover just inside their own half. The ball was moved smartly to the left and winger Will Miller was bundled into touch about seven yards from the Aspatria line. From the lineout, the Blacks Reds conceded a scrum for a throw that was not straight. Wigton looked to put pressure on in the scrum, leading to Aspatria giving away another penalty. Wigton used the penalty to set up a driving maul. Aspatria managed to stop the drive but scrum half Fergus Ledingham dummied his way over the line to open the scoring. Greg Smith was unable to add the conversion.

Aspatria looked to strike back and kept the ball alive under pressure to break out of their 22 and take play up to the Wigton 22. However a strong tackle knocked the ball loose and Wigton again put it through hands quickly. Aspatria skipper Andrew Miller seemed to have rescued the situation as he closed in to tackle centre Ali Ledingham, but Ledingham but in a chip first which Wigton's Will Miller gathered in to score under the sticks. Smith converted to make it 12-0. Wigton's next attack started with a break by Richard Moffatt in the centre and Smith was stopped just short of the line. Wigton were awarded the scrum and after a charge by skipper Atkinson from no8, from the ruck stand off Hanabury produced a long pass which put left winger Callum Studholme out side the defence to touch down. Smith missed the conversion but Wigton were looking comfortable on the half hour with the score 17-0. Wigton were looking dangerous with the ball in hand with each member of the back division looking to be a threat.

Aspatria came back at the Greens straight from the restart when flanker Lawrence Brown won possession. Play entered the Wigton 22 for almost the first time. Wigton's defence looked to have saved the situation when they bundled Aspatria into touch. However the one area where Aspatria looked to have an edge was in the lineout where Wigton's throwing was erratic and Beverley won a lot of good ball for Aspatria at the front. Here Aspatria won a ball on the Wigton throw and by retaining possession with close support play they worked their way towards the Wigton line. Lock forward Dave Preston was stopped in a tackle but had the physicality to reach out and put the ball over the line. Clegg was unable to add the extra points but Black Reds were on the board with the score 17-5.

Ironically, given Aspatria's good lineout work, the next try came when a misdirected tap from the back was snaffled up by 2nd row Marrs who drove up the middle of the park. Wigton then recycled and offloaded their way up the field, with new flanker Mark Lee being involved with offloads twice. The ball was slickly moved left until Aspatria ran out of defenders and Studholme scored his second try. Again no conversion. 22-5.

Following the restart Wigton had possession but Hanabury uncharacteristically knocked on to concede the scrum. Wigton were now starting to push the Aspatria scrum backwards on a regular basis. Aspatria scrum half Lee Holliday did marvellously well to rescue the ball from a retreating scrum. He was forced to his right where the defenders seemed to be there in force but he handed the ball off to namesake Ricky Holliday who came back strongly on the inside to wrong foot the defence and score. Clegg added the conversion to make the score 22-12 as halftime came.

During the interval Aspatria probably were greatly encouraged by events of the last 10 minutes and must have felt they had pulled themselves back into the game.

The second half started Wigton kicked off and Clegg cleared downfield. The ball was fielded in the Wigton half by Miller who set off upfield. After a couple of quick rucks Hanabury broke the line and ran 40 yards, pulling two defenders towards him before passing back to the increasingly impressive Lee who score under the posts. Smith converted. 29-12.

Wigton now entered a 15 minute purple patch during which they ran from everywhere with forwards on the charge and backs showing a cutting edge. The next try came when a loose pass from Aspatria was collected by Moffatt. With everyone looking for the ball to be spun wide again Deans made a little shimmy and charged over form 20 yards. The conversion made the score 36-12. Wigton's tails were up now and Ali Ledingham was next to score, collecting a delicious no-look pass from Deans. 41-12.

Aspatria refused to roll over and there were a number of times when Wigton looked set to score but were denied by last ditch defence. However Aspatria were less good at looking after the ball. Having stopped a try by ripping the ball from a seemingly line-bound Wigton maul, Aspatria were only able to produce a desperate kick upfield which was picked up by Smith. The end result was Ledingham putting in a well-weighted grubber kick which Smith touched down. 46-12.

Aspatria finally managed to halt the Wigton sequence of tries when they were awarded a penalty for Wigton holding on to the ball after the tackle. A kick gave Aspatria a lineout a few yards out from the Wigton line. Beverley gathered again at the front and the Aspatria pack got in behind him quickly and drove over the line with Preston claiming his second try.

The last fifteen minutes saw more endeavour than accuracy from both sides. Wigton wentt in search of a score to record fifty points over their rivals for possibly the first time, whilst Aspatria were striving for a fourth try to at least get a bonus point. The game lost shape as both sides made a host of interchanges as allowed under the new laws. It was Wigton who had the final word. As they attacked the Aspatria line referee Ben Blain caught the Black Reds offside. A quick tap and pass produced a hat trick try for Studholme and a final score line of 51-17.

Wigton have put down their marker but must now show that they can improve on last season's dismal away record to challenge for promotion. Aspatria, when they sit down to rationalise, may argue that they have played one of the league's best teams and things will now getting easier.