Great Come Back

The Good News was Steven Nelson and Matt Houghton were back, but Reece Tomlinson and Hugh Davies were out injured, and Chris Park, James Gough and Danny Barker were all unavailable.

Kendal came into the game in second with five wins out of six, whilst Wilmslow were in eleventh with just two wins.

Wilmslow made the better start, and there were early signs that their scrum was on top. They opened the scoring after six minutes when with a large overlap their outside half Ethan Harding went over, although they had been a hint of obstruction, with Mark Carruthers seeming to be block in the build-up. Fullback Connor McMurdoc made no mistake with the difficult conversion 7v0.

Wilmslow doubled their lead two minutes later. A Kendal long kick for went straight in to touch to give Wilmslow a lineout. The move was finished with a break from centre Henry Boden, The try converted by Connor McMurdoc. 14v0 after ten minutes

There was a fracas, and the referee stopped play and spoke at length to both captains, but took no further action, re-starting the game with a Wilmslow scrum.

Kendal finally came into the game, with Ben Dixon making a good break, but delayed his pass to Kris Bratton and when it came Bratton had to slow, and the chance was gone.

Kendal were struggling at the lineout and lost two, whilst Wilmslow had several called back for not straight throws.

Just after quarter of an hour Kendal pulled a try back. Jordan Johnson opened the Wilmslow defence and Glen Weightman got through, and whilst tackled managed to get to the line to score, but was unable to convert his own try. 14v5

As the half came to an end Kris Bratton made another break which was ended with a high tackle. The lineout was won and the pack drove for the line. When Wilmslow were penalised Jordan Johnson took the penalty quickly, and the pack set up a drive with the referee decided Wilmslow had interfered with illegally and yellow carded a Wilmslow player.

In a clearly planned move, Glen Weightman took the tap penalty, for the forwards to drive, but Greg Wrathall broke away and went over unopposed, Glen Weightman added the conversion. 14v12.

The referee re-started the game, but this remained the score at half time.

Despite playing well below their best, Kendal would have turned the happier with just a two point deficit, despite Wilmslow having the vast majority of territory and the ball.

It took just four minutes of the second half for Kendal to take the lead. Ben Dixon took the ball just inside the Wilmslow half, and outpaced the defence for another stunning score, Glen Weightman added the conversion. 14v19.

The lead was short lived, with poor tackling letting Wilmslow in for a third converted try, three minutes later. 21v19.

Kendal made their first changes with Alistair Thompson coming onto the right wing in place of Kris Bratton, whilst Ross McKay replaced Dane Blenkarn in the back row.

The swift change of lead was repeated. When Kendal were awarded a penalty, Jordan Johnson again took it quickly, only to be stopped by a dangerous high tackle, which earned a Wilmslow replacement prop a yellow card, and he may have been lucky it was not more severe sanction. Glen Weightman put over the resulting penalty. 21v22.

Kendal strengthened their lead two minutes later. Ben Dixon managed to gather a poor pass, then scythed through the defence. He was eventually stopped close to the line, then when the ball came back, Glen Weightman ignored an overlap and went for the line himself, but was stopped. The pack re-grouped and attacked the line and Greg Wrathall was the last to get up with the ball. Glen Weightman added the conversion 21v29.

Chris Evans came on to replace Greg Wrathall. Evans was soon in the action.

The game looked safe with a quarter of an hour to play. Chris Evans tidied up a Glen Weightman kick through, and when the ball came back, fullback Dan Lowther took the ball at pace, and powered to the line for a try under the post for Weightman to convert 21v36

Greg Wrathall returned for Steven Nelson.

Wilmslow were not finished, and capitalised on a poor kick out of defence, and back row man Marcus Atkinson went over, but for the first time the try was not converted.

Steven Nelson returned for Matt Houghton

With time running out, the Kendal forwards seemed in control as they worked towards the line, but the ball was turned over, and Wilmslow broke away with scrum half Sean Street finally going over at the other end of the field, for a try which was converted.

Play continued but the Kendal pack were keeping the ball tight, to run the clock down. Glen Weightman asked the referee several times how long was to play, but when he did this once too often he was penalised, then the penalty was then moved forward ten metres.

Wilmslow attacked, but the Kendal defence held out for a narrow victory.

After the poor start this was a good win, especially with a number of key players missing. The return of Steven Nelson and Matt Houghton both made a big difference in attack and defence.

Next weekend (a few weeks after first advertised) Bowden make a first visit to Mint Bridge. They are another team currently at the wrong end of the table with just two wins, and lost away at Broughton Park this weekend – but as this weekend again showed, no one can be taken lightly in this league

Your Kendal Man of the Match : Ben Dixon

OTHER RESULTS

TABLE

Despite only a narrow win against Altrincham Kersal. Stockport also picked up maximum points, but Waterloo dropped points losing at Birkenhead Park, whilst Penrith had a big win against Manchester

PHOTO : No action shots from Paul this weekend, so it is another lineout one from me. When your lineout is in trouble, look for Mr Dependable - Liam at the front, playing some of his best rugby in many years, to hold off the young challengers.