Hawcoat Park 26 Wigton 16

HAWCOAT Park made club history with a first victory over Wigton in the Cumbria Cup.

The Maroon and Whites ended years of near misses with success in a close and competitive game.

The match served as ideal preparation for the start of the North Lancs/Cumbria League this week, with Wigton back in that division following relegation.

The visitors were were a big, well-drilled outfit and demonstrated how tough the league will be this season.

It was an even start as the teams tested each other out, with the majority of play in the home half as Wigton applied the pressure.

Hawcoat held out and scored first as second row Ashley Mowat took a clear catch and his fellow forwards were quickly up in support. Danny White got his hands on the ball to force his way over and full-back Adam Jackson calmly slotted over a conversion from wide out for 7-0.

Wigton responded with a spell of pressure that really tested the home defence, with man-of-the-match Callum Ramsay, Matty Sayle and Will Mallinson working hard. Eventually, the visitors kicked a penalty to make it 7-3.

Park went further ahead after half-an-hour with a near-repeat of the first try, with White driving over and Jackson converting for 14-3.

The Maroon and Whites were not allowed to run the clock down to half-time as Wigton cranked up the pressure and moved the ball through hands for their centre to score and cut the gap to 14-8.

The next try, on the stroke of the break, was a classy effort as the ball was moved from inside their own half and the fly-half put in a clever chip over the defence.

The ball bounced nicely and, after some good interplay, the final pass went to the fly-half who ran in to score. The conversion attempt went wide and it was 14-13 at half-time.

The second half saw both packs locking horns. Home prop Jason Priss’s go-forward yards were prominent, as was scrum half Anthony Munday’s prompting.

After a sustained spell camped on the Wigton line, skipper Adam Grainger, showed determination to force his way over from close range and make it 19-13.

Wigton again hit back and only great covering defence, first from Priss and then from player/coach Scott Kaighan, prevented certain tries before a penalty closed the gap to 19-16.

Hawcoat’s spirit saw them dig in and when a Wigton forward was yellow carded for a technical offence the opportunity of a scrum was taken from the penalty.

Andy Kent, Brad Morrow and John Donnan pushed the scrum forward and, as Wigton offended near the line, referee Dan Shovelton had no hesitation awarding a penalty try, which Jackson converted.