1st XV
Matches
Sat 15 Nov 2014  ·  North One West
Kendal R.U.F.C.
1st XV
Penalties: G Weightman (5)
15
12
Widnes
Another Remarkable Ending

Another Remarkable Ending

Mark Hodgkiss15 Nov 2014 - 20:44
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For a second week and season a cliffhanging end to the match

The Kendal coaches rewarded some of those who had come in, and played so well, in the cup victory at Carlisle last weekend, with Nathan Woof, Dan Greenwood and Robbie Collinson retaining their places, but the experienced James Gough, Billy Coxon and Liam Hayton all returned, whilst Matty Houghton and Tom Voke joined the back row.

Kendal started the game well and took a 3v0 lead after just five minutes, with a Glen Weightman penalty after Widnes had been caught offside, following a number of good passages of play from the Kendal backs.

Kendal continues to dominate the game, with most of the play in the Widnes half, but the Widnes defence held firm, whilst giving away a string of penalties.

After a quarter of an hour, a Widnes second row was sent to the touchline for ten minutes, being the latest to concede a penalty, despite continuing to proclaim his innocence. He did seem unfortunate to be singled out, when others around him appearing to have committing more blatant offences.

Despite the man advantage Kendal could not get across the line, and a string of Kendal handling errors, helped to allow Widnes to protect their line.

Widnes finished the half the stronger, but this time it was the Kendal defence which held firm, to take their narrow 3v0 led into half time.

Kendal started the second half well and after six minutes Glen Weightman added a second penalty 6v0.

Alistair Thompson made an excellent run, breaking a number of attempted tackles, but was held on the line.

After a quarter of an hour, Kendal brought on Josh Chaplow and Dan Lowther for Dan Greenwood and Mark Carruthers. Shortly after this, Glen Weightman added a third penalty to stretch the lead to two scores. 9v0

There was uproar amongst the Kendal faithful, when two players were high tackled, as the Widnes defence started to tire. The referee played advantage, but when Kendal were stopped near the line, he failed to take any action against the perpetrators.

After twenty minutes a further high tackle gave Glen Weightman the opportunity to stretch the lead further with a fourth penalty. 12v0.

The Widnes backs had looked dangerous throughout the game, and as the game approached its final ten minutes they punished Kendal, with an excellent breaks down the right touchline, keeping the ball alive, when Kendal players made a number of tackles, and finally their outside half went over for the score, which was converted to bring the lead back to 12v7.

Mark Carruthers returned for James Gough and Rob Wightman came on for Ben Leacock, whilst Widnes lost their hooker to an injury.

Despite now being in control in the scrums, Kendal made more errors to keep themselves on the defence, and were made to pay when a Widnes replacement went over on the right to tie the game, 12v12, with the conversion to win the game. The kick drifted wide and leaving the scores tied, but the referee decided to play on.

Widnes took the kick-off ball, but rather than look for the winning score, were content to kick the ball to touch. However after the kick went in, Kendal flanker Matty Houghton appeared to catch the Widnes kicker high and late, sparking a barrage of punches, and he was forced off injured. The referee called the two captains and a Widnes prop across, and issued the prop with a yellow card for his part in the fracas. He then awarded Widnes a penalty for the late tackle, but immediately reversed it for the Widnes retaliation.

This sparked a bout of dissent worthy of Premiership footballers, from several of the Widnes players, but their captain Rob Critchley deserved great credit for the way he quickly restored order.

Glen Wightman had the penalty to win the match, and despite several Widnes players seeming to be far closer than the required ten metres, made no mistake to save Kendal blushes.

After the final whistle the Widnes right wing, was called aside by the referee, and was issued with a Red card, probably for dissent, and may find himself in hot water, depending on what was said and what the referee reports.

So Kendal played their late “Get out of Jail” card yet again, but this was another game they should have been out of sight in, well before the Widnes fight back. The Coaches will again be concerned again with the failure to turn pressure into points, and their teams inability to close out the game late on, despite seemingly being in control.

Kendal Man of the Match : Glen Weightman

ScoreTeamNoNameTimeKendalWid
PenKendal10Glen Weightman530
Y/CWidnes51630
= = = = = = = = =HALF TIME40+330
PenKendal10Glen Weightman4660
sub onKendal8Dan Greenwood5460
sub offKendal19Josh Chaplow5460
sub onKendal13Mark Carruthers5460
sub offKendal17Dan Lowther5460
PenKendal10Glen Weightman5690
PenKendal10Glen Weightman61120
tryWidnes1068125
conWidnes?68127
sub onKendal13Mark Carruthers73127
sub offKendal9James Gough73127
sub onKendal?Rob Wightman78127
sub offKendal5Ben Leacock78127
tryWidnes?801212
Y/CWidnes?821212
Subn offKendal6Matty Houghton821212
PenKendal10Glen Weightman831512
R/CWidnes14831512
= = = = = = = = =FULL TIME831512

KendalWidnes
Nathan Woof15M.Smith
Alistair Thompson14P.Connor
Mark Carruthers13D.Welsh
Bob Mataia12G.Lang
Dini Noyo11A.Leadbetter
Glen Weightman10C. Atkin
James Gough (C)9K. Leadbetter
Billy Coxon1M. Lawton
Robbie Collinson2M. Brick
Duncan Green3J. Wimstanley
Liam Hayton4M. Tindall
Ben Leacock5M. Garrity
Matty Houghton6M. Jones
Tom Voke7R. Critchley (C)
Dan Greenwood8J. Hetherington
Rob WightmansubC. Hall
Josh Chaplow (19)subJ Kenyon
Dan Lowther (17)subP McLindon

Referee : Ciaran Trainor (Cumbria Referee's Society)

Match details

Match date

Sat 15 Nov 2014

Kickoff

14:00

Location

Competition

North One West
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Club Sponsor - Kentdale  Jaguar Land Rover
Match Ball Sponsor - Rathbones Investment Management
Shirt & Shorts Sponsor - Kendalife
Club Sponsor - Lakeland
Club Sponsor - Saint & Co
Club Sponsor - MTP Media
Casual Shirt Sponsor - Bainbridge Electrical Ltd
Shirt & Position Sponsor - Steve Selby Building Contractors
Next Door Neighbours - Camping & Caravanning Club: Kendal
Shirt Sponsor - MGD Commercial and Motor Services
Club Sponsor - Crema Catering Supplies Ltd.