Hawcoat Park 12 Aspatria 46

AN under-strength Hawcoat side felt the full force of promotion-chasing Aspatria as they cruised to a Cumbria League victory.

With 10 players missing on a stag party in Prague, the makeshift Maroon and Whites had little reason to party as the North Cumbrians put them to the sword.

However, despite the margin of victory, all the Park players who stepped up could not have shown any more commitment in their effort, and it was a performance that was well appreciated by the home supporters.

As was to be anticipated, Aspatria hit the ground running with their massive pack proving difficult to defend against.

At regular intervals in the first 20 minutes they sucked in Park's defence, and when the ball was moved out wide four unconverted tries were scored.

The tries resulted not from poor defence on Park's part but through the sheer power of the Aspatria play.

Hawcoat's makeshift back row of Jack Sutherland, Tim Clark and Will Mallinson were working very hard, but this was a collective team effort with each of the lads working for each other to counter the Black and Red tidal wave.

Fears the scoreboard would continue to click were unfounded as Hawcoat managed to reply before half-time.

Will Mallinson, captaining the team in the absence of Danny White, led by example in all aspects and deservedly scored a try. He showed good strength to force his way over after a great 50-metre run by full-back Lewis Sayle.

Hawcoat started the second half well, with Callum Ramsay stepping up everywhere in attack and defence. With Ryan Milner and John Donnan running strongly, they applied good pressure.

The Aspatria defence was strong though, and Park were held up over the line on a couple of occasions. It was a little against the run of play that the Aspatria back row forced his way over for a converted try, making it 27-5.

Park's second try delighted the home supporters, as A-team stalwart Paul Woodburn, who was having a powerful game bolstering the scrum and causing problems in attack, forced his way over from close range, with George Smith adding a good conversion.

Aspatria finished strongly and added a further three tries as the Hawcoat side inevitably tired.

The whole Park team can be proud of their efforts, with former first-team captains Dave Gallagher and Tim Clark, who have not played any rugby for some time, stepping up in the hour of need.

Also, Rodney Odandi, making his first-team debut in difficult circumstances, certainly did not look out of place.