Kendal Development XV have a terrific battle against top side Silloth

High flying Silloth, only with the one defeat to Workington, were the visitors to Mint Bridge on Saturday, to see another much changed Development XV, due to injury and unavailability.
The game kicked off, and the returning squad captain Rob Wightman confidently dealt with the kick off, with the Kendal forwards driving at the opposition.
A Silloth infringement saw Kendal take the lead (not a customary sight), with a penalty from playing captain Chris Park.. The kick off saw a case of deja vu, with again the Kendal pack driving at their larger foes.
Quickly recycled ball saw Park and a midfield of Alex Wilson, and another returnee after a couple of seasons, Mike Childs, cleverly working the ball out to Twinny Wilson, who managed to find Sean Garnett, Sean started his man of the match display, with a little show of the ball, wrong footed the defender, before powering his way in to the corner for the first touchdown, Parky just missed with the kick from the wrong side of the pitch, 8 - 0 Kendal.
So the rest of the first 39 minutes went. Kendal were in the ascendancy as far as field and possession were concerned, but the larger Silloth outfit were always looking dangerous, with their powerful runners, and slick powerful back.,
The Kendal backline was putting in tackles aplenty, with Childs leading the way with some bone crunching hits, that the opposition would have been proud of! On the odd occasion that the Kendal line was under maximum pressure, the likes of Dane Blenkharn, Josh Chaplow, Dan Greenwood, James Mackereth and Jack Lashley would come up with an important turn over.This allowed Matty Kaye and Chris Park the opportunity to clear their line. A minute before half time, a turn over from Silloth, saw several mismatches, and the up to now iron defence was broken, resulting with a converted try for the West Cumbrians to make it 14-7 at the break, after Park had Been successful with 2 excellent penalties.

A "don't panic" team talk resulted in nothing, as within two minutes, Silloth had again crossed the line,( this time missing the kick), as Kendal were sleeping a little. The rest of the half saw Silloth have all the pressure and ball, but again the Kendal defence preformed miracles to keep their larger foes from crossing the line, with exemplary tackling and spirit, making it a mirror image of the first half.
A late hit by Garnett, relieved some pressure, and Park kicked the points to take it to 17 - 12.
Silloth again came charging back, and were amazed to find that Kendal's defence were still refusing to budge, but with 4 minutes left, a large Silloth attacker crossed the line This made it 17 - 17against 14 men. Kendal now threw everything into a frenzied attack, and several good phases of play resulted in an attack of mammoth proportions, and the Silloth backline were caught offside. Possibly given the distance of the kick, and conditions, this saw Park at the absolute maximum of his range, pulled the ball wide, to see a 17 all final result.

The finish was pleasing, but more so the performance, with the team showing both class play, and resulute defending, with a strengthening camaraderie amongst the troops. This was another rung up the ladder in terms of play and spirit, and oddly enough this is helped by the large numbers training, as well as having the likes of Park, and the soon to return Whitehead, lending a lot of experience to the outfit, for the younger lads to learn from.
There have also been several players, such as Liam Nicholson, and Matt Childs to bolster the troops, and an array of talent still to come back, making selection a real headache, but also a fantastic problem to have!
A special mention also to our usual supporters (a great set), Frank for turning up, Anthony Gage for all the help whilst he is having his enforced lay off, Glen Archer and his crutches, Fleur Stanton for the help, and finally to our most loyal supporter, and sponsor, Mr John Uttley of SBS, for his continued support.

Arthur Perie