Our first visit to KL in a few years brought out the best of both sides. This really tense affair really did have both teams doing all they could to gain the upper hand, but for the majority of the game, neither could.
KL went ahead fairly early with a penalty, but much of the half was played in Kirkbys half, though Kendal just couldnt break through the defence. When they did, a high tackle on Cam stopped a score in the corner, and Frank thought he'd scored following some excellent forwards work, but was penalised for knocking on as he forced through a pile of legs to the line. A missed kick from Charlie could have brought the scores level for the break, but it drifted just wide.
In the 2nd half Kendal kept the pressure on, eventually getting 3 points on the board from Charlies boot, only for Kirkby to respond almost straight away to go 6-3 up. Our lads refuse to give up though and among the numerous scrums & lineouts there were glimpses of open paddock to have a go at, ably attacked by a few players: Zak, Isaac, Harley, Johnny and Riley all cutting loose at times: given the space by excellent work all day from Idris and Charlie.
The breakthrough came from a long clearing kick that for the first time KL failed to deal with in their own 22, which Charlie had chased down, getting the bounce and avoiding a couple of desperate tackles to score under the posts, which he converted.
Kirkby started throwing everything at Kendal, but we were now solid in the scrums and the scramble defence really did some great work in denying Kirkby getting over the line. Thomas got a couple of outstanding mauls from holding the player up in the tackle, relieving lots of pressure on our lads and just before the end Freddie jackalled in his own 5m to steal the ball, break clear and get the ball out to Cam, who got us back to halfway before holding up and being bundled into touch, which was the last notable play before we turned over a ruck to get the ball back, which Iddy kicked into touch for the win.

A healthy travelling crowd all breathed a huge sigh of relief!
Our Colts remain top of the league with a rest weekend before travelling to Alwinians for a crucial match as they are only a point behind.