Furness 41 Millom 16

FURNESS claimed a third win of the Cumbria League season and with it climbed above Millom to fifth in the table.

A bonus-point win for the Blues on a fine winter’s day at the Strawberry Grounds was built on a solid defence more than a match for Millom’s direct approach and a willingness to run the ball from all areas of the pitch.

The game was barely a minute old when Matty Studt, back after a long time out, broke out of defence from full-back and enabled the Furness forwards to recycle the ball quickly on the visitors' 22.

Slick handling put Jordan Ashton over in the corner, though debutant stand-off Adam Jackson missed a difficult conversion.

Even at this early stage the pattern of the game was obvious, with the home back-line able to make inroads into the Millom defence and the visitors responding by keeping things tight.

Strong running by another Furness new boy, Tommy Hopkins, that nearly sent Ashton over again before, 10 minutes in, Rhys Studt set off on one of his trademark runs from his own half and scored beneath the posts. That gave Jackson an easier conversion and the home side held a 12-point advantage.

If Furness thought this was going to be a procession, Millom had other ideas.

Their weight advantage up front gradually forced the home side back into their own half for long periods.

This advantage only yielded converted penalties, as the tenacious Andy Brannon, Dillan Taputu and Joe Mallinson kept the visitors at bay with hard work supplemented by intelligent kicking from Jackson.

The backs were well marshalled by Marc Ashton at scrum half, who was making the most of any ball received.

The kick-off following the second penalty saw the Millom defence in confusion and eventually Ryan Cunningham, who had demonstrated he takes no prisoners in defence, forced his way over in the corner for the third home try.

The bonus point followed 10 minutes later as returning Thailand rugby league international Tez Nueto jinked through the visitors defence and under the sticks, with moves only bettered by Ed Balls. The conversion by Jackson stretched the lead to 24-6 at half-time.

Millom came out of the blocks strongly in the second half and close driving play soon brought their first try.

Furness were undeterred and applied pressure of their own that saw Dan Scott rampage under the posts to stretch the advantage to 20 points.

The Blues began to gain parity up front, with Leon Sweet, James Tyson and Alex Mason putting in big shifts, and Chris Dalton put the cherry on the cake for the forwards with a score in the clubhouse corner on the hour.

Rhys and Matty Studt nearly fashioned a score from the visitors' kick-off, but were pulled back for a marginal forward pass.

Furness continued undaunted, and Cunningham demonstrated good footballing skills to cross for his second. Jackson paid the price for his missed conversions from the touchline and spectated as Joe Mallinson stepped in to fail with his attempt.

The hosts were reduced to 14 as Andy Brannon paid the price for one robust tackle too many, and Millom were able to make their numerical advantage pay to register the final score of the day.

There was still time for a further two yellow cards, one per team, and another scintillating run by Cunningham that deserved to yield points.