Carlisle 46 Hawcoat Park 13

NORTH Lancs/Cumbria League leaders Carlisle showed Hawcoat Park a clean pair of heels late in the game with a runaway victory in the north of the county.

On a firm pitch, Park were hesitant out of the gate and a strong, well-organised home side shot into a 15-0 lead inside 10 minutes.

The first try was almost against the run of play, as Hawcoat were in possession on halfway looking to stretch the ball in an overlap situation. However, not for the first time this season, a loose pass was snapped up by the pacey Carlisle winger, who raced in to score.

Carlisle soon had a second with a training ground move looking to move the ball out wide. A short inside pass saw the strong-running centre slice through near the posts.

The try was converted and a 30-metre penalty soon after made it 15-0.

With the game looking to run away from them, Hawcoat slowly but surely fought their way and had the best of the next spell.

The yards made were hard, with the likes of skipper Danny White and vice-captain Will Mallinson driving into a stout defence.

Strong line-out work helped forge a foothold, and after a spell of attacking close to the line and a few penalties, referee Tyrone Castles awarded a penalty try for pulling down a driving maul. George Smith added the conversion for 15-7.

Smith was having a good game controlling play from fly-half and went close to scoring after making a clean break, just unable to link up with the support rapidly trying to back him up.

While there was no second try, Smith added both a drop goal and 35-metre penalty goal to reduce the deficit to 15-13, before – right on the half time whistle – Carlisle stretched the gap with their own penalty.

The second half started with the majority of the play in the Carlisle half, with the hosts hanging on.

Winger Chris Burns and Glenn Kaighan went close, while back-rower Callum Ramsay was having an all-action game and almost went in with another break. After his 40-metre run, he could not link up with his support and the Carlisle defence covered well.

Park were made to rue these missed opportunities as Carlisle regrouped and finished strongly.

They had a fast three-quarter line and looked dangerous every time they moved the ball, while dominating with an effective scrummage.

The scrum pressure resulted in a pushover try and three further Carlisle tries on the back of the dominance as they turned the screw. All four were converted.