Millom 27 Windermere 17

MILLOM claimed a key Cumbria League victory over Windermere to move within a point of their rivals in the table.

The Blue and Whites went into the fixture at Wilson Park in confident mood, fielding one of the strongest teams they have had out this season.

Despite missing a number of players through injury, the hosts saw the return of the experienced Adam Redhead and James Wilson – two strong-running ball carriers who have been missed at times this season.

Their go-forward was evident straight from kick off, as the Millom pack ran hard at the Windermere defence, which struggled to control the aggressive approach.

The play took the home side deep into the the Windermere 22, with the forwards drawing in the defence and making room for the back line to exploit the spaces.

With Millom's centres running good angles off the number 10, the spaces led to the opening first try as Ryan Carter went in wide on the left-hand side. The conversion was missed, but the hosts led 5-0.

The try woke Mere up, and from the kick-off the visitors had some good possession in the home half.

But Millom were in no mood to make it easy for their opponents, and the defence was aggressive, winning the ball back and turning defence into attack.

The Blue and Whites found themselves deep in the Windermere 22, and this time it was the turn of the forwards to score, with James Wilson crashing over after some good work from the pack. Another missed conversion left the scores at 10-0.

The game turned into an arm-wrestle, with the Ambers having good possession.

From a Millom scrum on halfway, Windermere's pack turned the ball over, leaving their scrum half Moses Dawson to show his pace and score a well-taken solo try, with the conversion being kicked to make it 10-7 at the break.

The second half was much the same as the first, with Millom's forwards running hard at the visitors.

Some intricate passing between the pack saw James Wilson score in the corner for Millom's third try of the afternoon, though again the conversion was missed.

From the resulting kick-off, the ball was won by Windermere, and using the wind they kept Millom in their own half for some time. However, whenever they came close to scoring, the home defence got them out of trouble.

Eventually, by keeping Millom penned in, Mere claimed their reward, using their strong mauling game and driving the home team back to scoring through the forwards. The conversion was missed and the score stood at 15-12.

From the kick-off, Millom regrouped and again went hard at the visitors' defence, making some good yards through both forwards and backs.

Redhead made a break and passed for Dean Doyle to score their fourth try.

From the resulting kick-off, Millom claimed their final try of the game, with a brilliant passing display from deep in their own half, using forwards and backs, seeing John Falconer score under the sticks for 27-12.

To their credit, Mere now played their best rugby, keeping Millom in their own half, and scoring the final try in the last few minutes of the game.

Millom will be looking to keep the form from the victory and take it into their next game away to Carlisle Crusaders on Saturday, while Windermere have a weekend off.