Excellent First Half Sets Up Narrow Victory

Kendal were forced to re-arrange their team, with a number of players out with injuries sustain in the excellent victory at Penrith. Matty Kaye and Jordan Johnson came in for James Gough and Leo Mercer, whilst Glen Wightman made his first start at outside half, in place of Bob Mataia, with Dan Lowther moving back into the centre and Nathan Wooff to fullback. Up front Josh Chaplow came in for Chris Downham. Visitors, promoted New Brighton. had already defeated Penrith and Wigton, but were yet to win away from home.

Kendal started well and dominated the opening exchanges with the ball being moved quickly, and the whole back division looking dangerous. It took just three minutes for Kendal to open the scoring. After coming under pressure in their own opening scrum, the Kendal pack returned the compliment, driving the large New Brighton pack off their own ball. The ball quickly was spread wide, with Mark Carruthers breaking through. Liam Hayton and Duncan Green took the ball on, and the forwards drove over the line for Blake Robinson to emerge with the ball. Glen Wightman put over the conversion 7v0.

Kendal were straight back on the attack, and the New Brighton defence was struggling to keep up with the high tempo, but Kendal could not find a way through.

Glen Weightman extended the lead with a penalty, with New Brighton penalised for killing the ball after Kendal scrum half Matty Kaye, had done well to clear up loose ball. 10v0.

After twenty minutes the referee’s patience ran out, after New Brighton conceded a string of penalties for slowing the ball down, and their left wing was give a yellow card for not rolling away from the tackle, although this particular decision appeared harsh. Shortly after Glen Wightman extended the lead with his second penalty, after New Brighton were again penalised for a similar offence. 13v0.

New Brighton mounted their first attack from the restart, when the kick off was knocked on by Kendal. They took play into the twenty two, and when Kendal offended, slotted over a penalty to narrow the gap. 13v3.

Three minutes later, just as their first player returned from a spell on the touchline, he was replaced by the New Brighton No.8, who was adjudged to have illegally stolen Kendal ball on the ground. From long range Glen Wightman slotted over his third penalty. 16v3.

Kendal’s second try came from a lineout close to halfway. The ball was moved into mid-field where Liam Hayton broke the defence, opening space for Dan Lowther, who scythed through the New Brighton try for an excellent solo try , outpacing a number of would be tacklers. Glen Wightman converted 23v3.

Before half time Wightman added his third penalty for a 26v3 halftime lead. Billy Coxon came on for Garry Holmes, at the break.

Now playing with the strong wind on their backs, New Brighton had clearly been conserving their energy in the first half, and having kept the deficit down, immediately set out to get back into the game. A number of powerful runs by their forwards, put the Kendal line under pressure, but the defence held out. When the ball was turned over, a good clearance kick was put down field, but despite a good chase, the New Brighton’s wing broke a number of tackles, to put Kendal back defending on their own line. Whilst New Brighton were prevented from grounding the ball over the line, the Kendal pack could not make any impact on the resulting New Brighton scrum, and the ball was moved to the left hand touchline for a try, which was excellently converted 26v10.

After quarter of an hour of play New Brighton narrowed the gap further with a penalty 26v13

Kendal made a number of substitutions with Rhys Studt and Chris Park, coming on for Blake Robinson, Nathan Wooff, whilst Garry Holmes replaced the injured Richard Harryman. Wooff’s time on the sidelines was less than five minutes, as he quickly returned for the injured Jordan Johnson.

Chris Park was soon in the action, fielding several New Brighton clearances kicks, returning the ball to keep play in the New Brighton twenty two, and pressure on their line. New Brighton were forced to defend a number of scrums on their line, but managed to hold out.

After half an hour, James Thompson became the latest player forced off through injury, with Blake Robinson returning, and Josh Chaplow moving to No.8, and being prominent in a number of the following attacks on the New Brighton line.

Whilst Kendal could not get the score, the pressure was running the clock down, but when they offended at a scrum, New Brighton quickly ran the ball to set up a move, which eventually saw their centre crash over in the third minute of injury time, at the opposite end of the field, for a converted try which brought them to within a score of Kendal. 26v20.

The referee played on, and Kendal had to withstand more pressure, and were lucky to see the New Brighton try scorer slip, as he heading towards the line, but they held out for a win that had looked much so much simpler at half time.

More injuries concern for the coaches, and after the excellent first half display, Kendal struggled to win ball from the powerful opposition New Brighton pack after the break. They will also want to see pressure turned into points, to take valuable try scoring bonus points, but will have been pleased to see their team come through this difficult test.

One major plus point was the performance of the lineout, so often an Achilles heel for the team. This time it was a near perfect performance, even managing to steal a New Brighton throw, with Rob Wightman prominent.

Next weekend sees another home game against Wigton

© KRFC

MAN OF THE MATCH (as voted for by website readers) Liam Hayton