The Vikings (2nd Team) headed to Ormskirk for the Barry Allen Trophy final against Prenton (yet another club based on the Wirral peninsula)

Whilst a knock-out Cup competition, the two teams had won their respective Leagues, both with eighteen wins out of twenty. So a close contest was expected – following another close game where Merseyside Police had beaten Sale FC Norsemen in the Plate Final, with a try with the last action of the game.

Just two changes to the squad who had played in the final League game and title decider against Fylde (4) a fortnight ago. Robbie Kincart came into the front row in place of Connor Lees, whilst Owen Griffin came off the bench to replace Chris Evans at No 8, this saw a re-organisation of the back division, with Dafydd Philp coming in on the wing, Mikey Charnley moving to fullback and Tommy Scanlan, who had played there against Fylde, starting from the bench.

A warm sunny afternoon, with a good crowd and atmosphere for the three games, of which this was the middle one.

Prenton had the better of the early play with Kendal being forced to defend in their own half for long periods, not helped by not having a natural kicker to help them clear their lines. So were having to run at a solidly built and more experience pack.

It was clear there was going to be two different styles, with Prenton’s forwards trying to punch holes in the Kendal defence, whilst Kendal looked for quick ball to release their back division.

When Kendal had the ball they were let down several times by handling errors.

There was a let off for Kendal, when a Prenton player burst through and with another outside him all he had to do was delay his pass, but instead went for glory and instead was met by a solid tackle, from Daf Philp and was forced to conceded a penalty, which relieved the pressure on Kendal.

The deadlock was finally broken after twenty minutes when the referee penalised Kendal for a dangerous tackle, and Prenton went for the posts 0v3

Kendal were coming more into the game, but handling errors and poor passes were still letting them down.

Prenton extended their lead at the end of normal time in the half. A poor Kendal clearance kick was gathered and after a break, a kick was put through to the line and bounced well for a Prenton player for the score, which was converted. 0v10

Kendal had a chance to pull points back before half time. There was a good break through the centre, and all that was needed was a pass to unmarked Daf Philp for a try, but the pass was poor and the chance was gone.

Prenton turned with a good lead, but Kendal had been playing well, just not turning chances into scores, and had the unused fresh legs of Tommy Scanlan and Johnny Swallow on the bench, with the knowledge and experience of Liam Hayton, whilst on a hot afternoon could Prenton’s older players keep up the pace ?

A bad start to the second half for Kendal as they made a mess of dealing with Penton’s re-start kick but the lead was soon to be narrowed.

Dev Coyle put up a box kick which did not go far, but was not dealt with by Prenton allowing Kendal centre Theo Stephenson to gather and release Robbie Kincart. Not one built for speed, but there was no hesitation or looking for support as he set off on a good run that took play to the Prenton twenty-two and when the ball was re-cycled Dev Coyle went through for the score 5v10

Kendal brought Johnny Swallow and Tommy Scanlan on

Seven minutes later Kendal had the lead for the first time. Anthony Gage burst through and made a lot of ground. There must have been a temptation to have gone himself, but with Johnny Swallow coming at pace, he took the wise decision to pass, and this time the ball went to hand, and it would have been difficult to stop Swallow at pace. Tommy Scanlan added the conversion. 12v10.

Play moved from end to end but defence was on top and there were few chances.

When awarded a kickable penalty Prenton went for the posts but relief for Kendal when the kick failed to find its target.

There were a number of long stoppages for Prenton injuries, which allow there pack to recharge their batteries.

With the game moving toward added time, Johnny Swallow found a gap and made a long run. He was stopped with a high tackle. With a simple kick on offer, Kendal had a choice of putting the ball to touch to potentially get a try to put the game beyond Prenton, or take the points to mean Prenton needed a converted try for the win. They went for the latter and Tommy Scanlan added the points 15v10.

A nervous seven minutes of added time as Prenton looked for the winning score, and several times 50:50 refereeing decisions went against Kendal, but their was to be no repeat of the earlier game and the Kendal defence held out for the narrow win.

With two excellent defences, little fast flowing rugby, but two teams who showed why they have done so well this season. A number of the Kendal team again demonstrating they will be pushing for First XV spots next season.

But for the moment the team could celebrate adding the trophy to their League win, whilst a number had also been part of the Cumbria Cup winning squad.

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