Close...but no cigar!

Wigton had the territorial upper hand for large parts of this keenly contested local derby, but in the final analysis, they were unable to match Carlisle's dominant display in the set pieces.

Wigton, playing with the wind behind them, made a bright start to the game and most of the opening fifteen minutes were spent deep in Carlisle territory. At one point Wigton retained the ball through over twenty phases but were unable to penetrate Carlisle's defensive line. The ball was spun wide and it was carried close to contact by the forwards but no way through was found. On a number of occasions Carlisle won turnovers but Wigton regained possession. Unfortunately, the only score Wigton could register came from a long range penalty which full back Gregg Smith put over from just inside the Carlisle half.

Wigton failed to deal with the restart and knocked the ball on. Soon afterwards Carlisle's fly half Damian Armstrong levelled the scores when Wigton were caught offside.

The game's next scrum produced a penalty for Carlisle. They kicked into Wigton territory, looking to set up a catch and drive from the lineout. Wigton halted the first drive, but illegally. Referee Ryan Oliver from Warwickshire had a stern word with the defenders. Carlisle looked to repeat the treatment but nearer the line. Wigton offended again and No 8 Stuart Creighton was shown a yellow card. On the third time of asking Carlisle threw in at the line. Ryan Feeney caught the ball and his pack drove over the line with flanker Bobby Sherlock claiming the try. That made the score 3-8.

Carlisle claimed the restart and hooker Tom Graham made a strong thirty yard run to take play into Wigton territory. Smart handling put scrum half Matty Roper away on an overlap but Smith bundled him into touch. Carlisle won ball at a lineout and centre Matthew Minnett carried well, but when he was tackled Wigton seemed to have play covered. However, inside centre Dan Holmes ran through some weak tackling which went too high on the stocky three quarter and he scored to gave Carlisle a 3-13 lead at half time.

In the second half Carlisle looked to use their scrum dominance to close out the game. Several times they were awarded penalties in the Wigton 22 and opted to take scrums. However, they were not able to drive Wigton over as they wished and replacement prop David Waning seemed to improve the Wigton scrummaging. Carlisle's frustration was complete when they were penalised for feeding. Wigton skipper scrum half Fergus Ledingham was looking to take quick taps to speed up play and good retention enabled Wigton to carry the ball to halfway where they were awarded a penalty which took play into the visitors' 22. Shortly afterwards Dan Holmes was yellow carded for lifting the legs of Wigton's Jonny Charters above the horizontal in the tackle.

Ledingham again tapped quickly. Creighton made good ground and left winger Steven Harris had a run for the line and was tackled just short. Wigton had a lineout five metres out. The ball was won and Wigton's ball carrier ran into the referee who had no option but to award the scrum. Wigton won quick ball and with inside centre Richard Moffatt's decoy run holding the defence, there was just enough room for right winger Ryan Clark to score Wigton's first try. This made the score 8-13.

Following the restart Wigton coughed up possession and another scrum offence gave Armstrong the chance to extend the gap to 8-16.

However, Carlisle were not looking comfortable and Wigton can roaring back. A penalty in the Carlisle 22 was again tapped by Ledingham as the defence were caught napping. Fly half David Hanabury and Creighton handled well to pass to Smith whose great line took him through a gap to score. Charters converted to set up a dramatic finish with the score 15-16.

Wigton went hard after the win, but a strong tackle by Carlisle knocked the ball loose. However, Carlisle were penalised at the scrum and Wigton had another chance. Frustratingly, after good ground had been made, the ball again came loose. Minnett's superb punt pushed play to within seven yards of the Wigton line. As the game wound up to a breathless climax, Hanabury attacked from his own line and made a great clean break. However, as the support play developed the ball again went loose and Wigton were penalised. The penalty saw Carlisle set up a lineout five metres out. They then made easy work of the catch and drive to produce a second try for Sherlock. The missed conversion meant that at 15-21 a converted try would give the win to Wigton.

However, Carlisle kept their heads and a penalty for a late tackle enabled them to finish the match in the Wigton 22 when they knocked on whilst driving for the line. On the balance of play, Carlisle just about deserved their win, having made more of their chances and finding a decisive weapon in their driven lineout.

Wigton were greatly encouraged by a gutsy performance, especially given the absence of Marrs and Walker from last week's pack. Indeed, Lindsay followed the old Peter Noble method of injuring himself in the warm up. It is good to see James Brough getting back in harness again and Ryan Clark is playing with plenty of confidence. Next week sees a challenging trip to league leaders Birkenhead Park with Coach Brown looking for likely candidates to prop the scrum.