Hawcoat Park fell to a narrow 21-15 defeat at Whitehaven in Cumbria Division One last Saturday, despite a superb individual try from teenage debutant Jack Lord.

On a firm pitch played in sunny conditions, Park had to withstand some early pressure from their hosts, but still managed to claim the first points for the match through a penalty from co-captain George Smith.

However, Whitehaven’s strong-running pack put their side on the front foot, with their short, sharp drives proving to be very effective, while Hawcoat’s discipline was letting them down.

The hosts’ first try arrived after 15 minutes, with their forwards setting the platform before some good handling from their back division created an overlap for their winger to run round near the posts.

Whitehaven struck again at the midway point of the first half, as their full back burst into the line and ran strongly for the touch down, with the conversion making it 14-3.

Hawcoat then hit back just before half-time when some good line-out work from Ashley Mowat and Mike Lightfoot allowed them to a get a good forward drive going, which led to Harry Higgins grounding the ball.

Smith’s conversion struck a post, as the two teams turned around with six points separating them, but Whitehaven opened the gap up again 15 minutes into the second half.

It came through a brilliant piece of play from their No.8, who burst through the tacklers on halfway before speeding away to score under the posts, making the conversion a formality.

Despite having Lightfoot sent to the sin bin for dissent, Park still refused to lie down and scored their second try while down to 14 men.

Benji Platt took the ball into the line before passing to Lord, with the 17-year-old winger beating his man on the outside before chipping over the cover defence and chasing the ball down to score.

Smith added the conversion, but the visitors couldn’t manage to pull off an unlikely comeback, as Whitehaven starved them of possession in the final ten minutes, leaving them with just the losing bonus point.

Centre Connor McDermott scored four tries, as Hawcoat Park A were emphatic 60-5 winners against Preston Grasshoppers’ 4th XV.

Euan James began the rout with a penalty before he set up McDermott for the first of his haul, with Chris Wilby crossing the try line after a long spell of pressure.

McDermott then pounced on a loose ball to score his second, with Preston notching their one score of the afternoon before Luke Shaw’s break led to McDermott completing his hat-trick before half-time.

Park began the second half 31-5 ahead and quickly extended their league further when Jay Crowe flew down the wing.

The tries kept on flowing for the hosts, with McDermott grabbing his fourth before Will Coles (2) and Lewis Sayle got in on the act.