After the disappointment of last week's loss against Carlisle, Wigton, with a number of injuries to key players to cope with, faced a difficult assignment to get back to winning ways when they faced the visit of Kendal to Lowmoor Road. It is pleasing to report that they emerged from this test of character with a five point win in an absorbing contest which produced a classic contrast of styles.

From the first kick off, it was clear that Kendal would be relying mainly on the form of their formidable, well-drilled pack. They caught the ball then attacked the fringes with their big runners coming round the corner. All the pack were to do a lot of carrying during the course of the afternoon. After a few drives, captain and scrum half James Gough put up a box kick, which Kendal regained. A couple more drives, then fly half Dan Lowther sent a low driving kick into touch just outside the Wigton 22. It was all so simple, so controlled. However, what happened next was not part of the Kendal script.

Wigton's lineout talisman, Matthew Atkinson, won the ball. It was passed back to fly half David Hanabury who shipped it on to full back Gregg Smith. He produced a penetrative kick, going high, wide and handsome to the left wing. The Kendal defence were all at sea and the ball bounced benevolently into the hands of winger Jordan Wood, returning to the side, who grabbed the ball and scampered away from the defence for the opening try. Wood had been handed the kicking duties, but was unable to convert. Indeed, successful kicks were to be rare today with both sides having difficulty bisecting the uprights.

Kendal got back to their tight, up-the-jumper game and were soon rewarded with a penalty about forty yards out. Full back Chris Park was unable to take advantage, but Kendal were soon back on the attack. More good possession football took them into the home 22, but when the ball was moved to left winger Glen Boardley, he relieved the pressure with a knock on. Kendal tried to get their driving maul going from a lineout catch and drive, forcing another penalty. The kick took them back to the Wigton 22. It was clear that any Kendal lineouts in this area would see them try to reproduce this tactic. On this occasion, Wigton were able to clear when Atkinson stole the ball at the front of the line.

However, from the clearance kick, Hooker Duncan Green threw accurately to the back. As Wigton prepared to defend the drive, instead a well-worked move saw the ball passed down to flanker Matty Houghton who ran through a gap in the extended lineout to surge over the line. The unimproved try levelled the scores at 5-5.

Now it was Wigton's turn to hit back when they were awarded a penalty on their own 10 metre line. Hanabury caught the visitors out with a quick tap, slashing through the defence and then passing to Wood to finish off with a twenty five yard dash for his second try, giving Wigton a 10-5 lead. It was becoming evident that if Wigton were to have their hands full defending against the Kendal pack, then Kendal were to have a difficult assignment keeping the Wigton backs quiet.

Shortly afterwards Hanabury put centre Will Miller through a gap with a neat short pass. Miller, probably Wigton's form player at the moment, had another big game today and made a big run to take play a few yards out from the Kendal line. As Wigton recycled, Kendal's defence had time to scramble back and the attack ended tamely with a penalty for crossing.

The rest of the half saw Wigton having to show their tenacity in defence as Kendal's forward runners again tried to work their way up the field. Several times big tackles took the momentum away from the move, but the Kendal eight simply started over again and made their way inexorably up field. At this point of the game, the Wigton scrum had been coping well and had even got the nudge on a couple of Kendal put ins. However, when Wigton had a defensive scrum, the ball came shooting backwards and they were forced to concede a scrum five.

Although Kendal were unable to make much ground in a pushover attempt, No 8 James Thompson picked up and set up ruck ball. Patience finally paid off when Green was able to get over the line with the defence short of numbers on the blindside. Again, there was no conversion and the game was level at 10-10 come halftime.

The Wigton supporters were relieved that the determined defence had been able to hold Kendal at bay for much of the second twenty minutes. On the down side, Gregg Smith was forced to leave the field with Ryan Clark coming on to replace him.

The first twenty after the restart most definitely belonged to Wigton. Kendal tried to pick up where they left off, but Wigton were galvanised by some strong defence by Miller. A hard hit on winger Anthony Gage knocked the ball loose. Next Miller showed up on the attack. Spotting a mismatch with prop Glen Chesher in front of him, Miller ran round him and set up a position deep in the Kendal half. Hanabury made sure play stayed there as he threaded a kick through the bodies to find touch half a dozen yards out.

Kendal's lineout now entered a period of disfunction as the ball was spilled forward to be snapped up by Wigton. Hanabury, Winger Tom Gardner and centre Richard Moffatt, combined well to take Wigton almost to the line. The forwards then made a number of little darts with No 8 Stuart Creighton finally forcing his way over. Hanabury now took over the kicking duties, but he too, was unable to add the extras.

Kendal were unable to construct much of a response as Green had an unsteady period of throwing in with three successive throws being not straight. Following one of these, Wigton were able to produce a good backs move with Gardner coming off his wing and rampaging upfield through flailing tackles. His pass to Wood was deflected by a defender's hand, but Wood was able to dribble the ball and fall on it over the line for a hat trick. Hanabury's well struck conversion attempt came back off the post, but, in the context of this game, Wigton had a bit of a cushion at 20-10.

Wigton nearly scored again from their next possession. Kendal, as they did several times, regained the ball from their kickoff. However, Wigton won a turnover in their own 22 and Gardner hoofed a clearance upfield. The Kendal back three were out of position and starting to look very uneasy when having to deal with clearance kicks. Wigton chased well and Miller was first to the ball and got to within five yards. Somehow the Kendal defence managed to get back and pressurise Wigton into a knock on. It was not long before Gardner, putting together back-to-back big games with the ball in hand, got Wigton going forward again, passing to Clark and again Wigton were in the 22.

When Kendal had the chance to get going again, their lineout imprecision let them down. Their back line defence were struggling to cope and another Gardner run ended with a penalty in front of the posts. This time Hanabury made no mistake, giving Wigton a 23-10 lead, with about ten minutes left.

However, Wigton once again had to restructure when skipper Andrew Brown, filling in at scrum half, left the field with a knee injury. Jordan Wood took the nine spot, whilst John Story left the back row for the wing and Elliot Armstrong packed down on the blind side.

A knock on by Wigton from the kick off have Kendal the chance they were desperate for to get back in the game. The knock on was followed by a penalty and Park kicked into the home 22.
The drive from the line was held and a big tackle saved a try as an attacker was clattered into touch. Wigton won the ball and set off on a drive of their own. Atkinson emerged out of the front of the maul and ran upfield. Unfortunately his pass to Wood, who was salivating at the thought of another attacking run, was knocked back by a defender's hand.

Kendal disrupted a Wigton scrum, forcing a penalty for holding on. This gave them another lineout chance ten yards from the home line. This time there was no holding the catch and drive and evergreen prop Billy Coxon claimed the try. Again the conversion was missed, rather vital as the 23-15 gave Wigton breathing space, something they were soon grateful for.

Kendal were able to come straight back from the kick off. Lowther tried a chip but was able to win the penalty from referee Denvir for a late tackle. The kick gave Kendal a lineout some thirty five metres out. With both sides tiring, Kendal girded their loins for one last efforts. They caught the ball and instigated a driving maul which crabbed its way up field. On more than one occasion it looked as if the referee would rule the ball held, but Kendal managed to get moving again. After what seemed an eternity, the mass of bodies heaved over the line, resulting in a try for flanker Gary Holmes. This time the try was converted, with Wigton holding onto the slenderest of lead at 23-22.

Kendal had one last roll of the dice with one more spell of possession. The forwards tried to make ground just inside the Wigton half. The ball came back to Lowther who tried to win the game with a long range drop goal. The effort was well short and Wood kicked the ball dead to end the match.

In the final balance, Wigton showed enough character in defence and endeavour in attack to be worthy of the win in this excellent contest. Following last week's match, many neutrals had written off Wigton's prospect of holding the strong Kendal pack. This win was a perfect riposte for the team.

Unfortunately it came at a price, as Brown and Smith joined the increasing list of injured players. Coach Malcolm Brown will be hoping for some good news on the medical front ahead of next week's trip to underrated Kirkby Lonsdale.

Some final thoughts, there was a significant improvement from last week in all aspects of play, the desire and passion throughout the team was evident from minute one with more effective scrummaging and defensive strategies. Behind the scrum the balance between handling and field kicking was better and despite the loss of many 'lead' players the real bonus in evidence is that we now have a 1st XV squad of around 27 players who on any given day can take to the field and 'man up'.

The match sponsors DODD and CO. ACCOUNTANTS had a difficult task in singling out a M O M on a day when the whole squad had impressed - the front five came into contention as did winger Jordan Wood with his hat trick but the partners Robert Wharton and Alison Johnstone made the award to the impressive Will Miller who again belied his relatively tender years with a strong performance at 13 .