Hawcoat Park made light of the horrendous wet conditions last Saturday by beating St Benedicts 32-10 at home to avenge the defeat suffered in the reverse fixture in September.

It was the Maroon and Whites’ third win in four games in Cumbria Division One and the result lifted them above their opponents, who had beaten leaders Keswick the previous week, and up to fifth in the table.

The early exchanges were an even arm wrestle as both teams tested each out and attempted to adapt to the difficult conditions for handling.

St Benedicts had brought a big, powerful pack with them and looked dangerous as they moved the ball out wide to their pacey backline.

They struck first when good support play by their forwards made ground down the right flank before the ball was moved left, where centre Reece Lancaster forced his way over, with the conversion missed.

George Smith put Hawcoat on the board with a 30-metre penalty before the hosts scored their first try in the 25th minute.

Mike Lightfoot taking a penalty quickly led to the second-row pairing of Jack Sutherland and Matt Robson continuing the move before Lightfoot got his hands on the ball again to force his way over.

George Smith slotted over the conversion and after a good spell of pressure added a penalty to make the half-time score 13-5.

Early in the second half, with Park playing against the wind, a line-out drive, which some of the backs joined, allowed Sayle to ground the ball and extend the hosts’ lead.

A third try arrived when scrum-half Jack Shannon slipped a neat pass to Andy Kent, who forced his way over, with Smith converting via the cross bar.

Bennies were next on the scoresheet when their forwards set the platform by making good ground before moving the ball out wide for winger Shannon Howse to finish strongly in the corner.

But an excellent day for the Maroon and Whites was finished off with ten minutes remaining when they sealed the try-bonus point.

Good work by Elliot McDermott and Chris Burns allowed Benji Platt to come into the line at pace before passing to Sayle, who committed the would-be tacklers before slipping a great inside pass to the supporting Scott Kaighan who finished under the posts.

It wasn’t as successful a weekend for Hawcoat Park A, however, as they slipped to a 25-12 defeat on their travels to Bolton’s 3rd XV, but they’ll have the chance to redeem themselves when they host bottom side Blackburn 3rd XV this weekend.