Tane Manihera and David Percival picked up injuries in that match and that meant that Cumbria full back Gregg Smith returned after a couple of weeks out with injury, whilst the versatile Jay Henderson, the previous week's Man of the Match for the Wanderers, took the wing berth. Ryan Clark came onto the bench as Wigton's 28th first team player so far this season. In the pack, Mark Deans started, with Peter Dobson occupying the bench.

The day was sunny but blustery and Heaton Moor opted to make first use of the elements. However, Wigton got off to the better start when they regained possession from the kick off. An early score looked to be on the cards, but strong defence forced a knock on and from the resulting scrum the home team cleared to halfway. Moor stole the line out and their forwards went through the phases to go deep into Wigton territory. When they moved the ball to the backs skipper Chris Ogden-Smith hit a gap and sidestepped the last defender to score a good try. Danny Child added the conversion for an early 7-0 lead.

Wigton steadied the ship through the pack. First possession was obtained by pressurising a Moor scrum. Moor were pinged at a subsequent ruck and Ali Ledingham deposited the ball on the home five yard line. A well- rehearsed sequence of events led to the green pack driving over the line to produce a score for Andrew Bell.

Wigton enjoyed superiority at the scrum until the home team made some changes to at least protect their own ball. Robert Marss, Richard Moffatt and Mark Deans all made good ground in the lead up to the next try. Wigton got another line out close to the home line. Fergus Ledingham and James Brough edged the ball closer with Deans applying the coup de grace by clattering over for the try. Ledingham added the conversion and Wigton were in the lead after 13 minutes by 12 points to 7.

The third try was set up by more forceful ball carrying from Marrs, Deans and Brough. When the ball was sent wide, slick handling from David Hanabury and Moffatt found Gregg Smith who cut a neat angle to score with Ledingham again converting for a 19-7 lead.

In the next few minutes Wigton squandered a number of scoring opportunities. In the first a sweeping attack went through eight phases but a two man overlap was ignored. Shortly afterwards Ryan Clark replaced the injured Moffatt. Will Miller moved ably to centre with Clark going on the wing. He made an immediate impact, beating three defenders near the touch line but agonisingly losing the ball as he crossed the whitewash. Smart handling from Matthew Atkinson and Fergus Ledingham created another opening, but the ball was knocked on just when a try seemed likely.

Heaton Moor were encouraged by their defensive efforts and attacked with great purpose. Sustained pressure led to a penalty which the impressive Child slotted over from 35 yards for a 19-10 score at the break.

Moor retained the initiative at the start of the second half, forcing Wigton to show their defensive prowess. Errors and penalties kept the pressure on, but despite their best efforts, Moor were restricted to a further Child penalty to narrow the gap to 13-19. The home team sniffed an upset but suffered a blow when their main ball carrier, No 8 James Salter, had to come off the field with an injury. During the stoppage the Wigton squad had a lecture from coach Brown and shook themselves out of their torpor.

The next fifteen minutes saw Wigton launch a blitz of relentless physical rugby, producing three further tries. Firstly, Brough, Marrs and Henderson were prominent in an attack which was finished off by Smith and converted by Ledingham. Mark Lee,showing his experience, started to pull strings around the fringes. Matthew Atkinson found himself in some wide spaces with the ball and showed impressive pace as he caught out the home team's wide defence for another improved try. A couple of minutes later a series of powerful rucks led to Peter Dobson crashing over for his first try in a green shirt. Dobson had come on to replace Lindsay Walker, who at 21 is one of the youngest regular props in the league and continues to show good progress. The try was also converted, giving Wigton a lead of 38-13 after 63 minutes.

The Wigton pack continued to dominate exchanges as players looked to catch the coach's attention to claim places for next week's cup game at Kendal. A forward move from the training produced a second try for skipper Atkinson and a conversion for Ledingham.

As the game entered its last minutes, home skipper Ogden Smith urged his team onwards for a final effort. Moor responded to his words an carried the ball with determination, making good ground, eventually producing a try for Dave Gunson and converted by Child.

That looked like that was going to be it, but in the final action of the day, a loose clearance kick was fielded by Lee who weaved his way through several tackles in a thirty yard run. He then produced a subtle offload to let Atkinson gallop over the line for his hat trick. The match was rounded off by a superb touch line conversion from Ledingham and a 52-20 final score. Wigton had played the last half hour at just over a point a minute.

The Heaton Moor committee made the ubiquitous Lee Man of the Match, whilst the travelling supporters gave Fergus Ledingham their vote.

At this point in the season we have reached the 500 points mark (501 to be precise). 78 tries have been scored and skipper Atkinson leads the way on 13.

Next week we have a break from league action, but have the mouth-watering prospect of a trip to Kendal in the quarter final of the Cumbria Cup. This will tell us a lot about ourselves. Kendal are two leagues above us, but struggling a bit with only two wins so far. They will not be looking forward to this game against a team from lower leagues full of confidence and doing well. As well as there being a place in the Cup semi finals up for grabs, this game will give us a clear indicator of how we currently compare against higher ranked clubs. It is entirely possible that this could be a rehearsal for a league fixture next season, but we shall not count any chickens but await developments. I do feel however that this is an excellent opportunity to take on these old rivals and the pressure is on them to perform.