This season has seen our rugby union teams in the south of the county all have ups and downs this year, but with further re-jigging of the league season to be bottomed out they could all find themselves all in the same league next season.

Hawcoat Park’s first team finished mid-table in the initial league in Cumbria One, with a mixture of great wins and narrow defeats which put them in the Cumbria Shield as the Cumbria Rugby Union looked to prolong the season.

They finished third in that competition, which was disappointing for the Maroon and Whites but allowed for the A team to get some first XV game time.

George Smith as captain had a superb year, if not frustrating, but all the same pulled the club together and got themselves pushing in the right direction.

Speaking of Hawcoat’s A team, up to Christmas they were clear favourites to win the Sale Sharks Division Four title and take the cup en route.

However, unavailability due to injuries and work commitments forced the club to stretch its resources at times, which in turn left the squad with bare numbers to travel, something which is being looked at with next season in mind. Captains Peter Jennens and Matt Robson were proud of the squad with a lot of new and returning faces coming to fore and producing some good rugby at times.

The club’s structure seems in healthy stature, with the under-16s putting up a good show in getting to the Cumbria Cup final, getting defeated at the last hurdle as look to move into Colts rugby next year. With other youth teams ongoing in their developments, things look rosy for the future.

For their part, Furness have been frustrated by the distinct lack of travelling teams, having played only two games at home this side of Christmas, which is something surely that needs to be looked at by the powers that be in the county.

The squad have had some great games with Corne Els as captain, who should be applauded for getting teams on the road and keeping players interested under these circumstances.

Ben Hughes was ever-present throughout the season alongside Will Mallinson who played a number of positions before settling down at fly-half.

Finishing sixth in Cumbria Two, Furness were right up there for most of the season with some great performances at home against Egremont and away at Creighton, but fell foul by the odd point in too many games.

The Blues will be looking to continue to develop the side, no doubt, and will try to get a second team up and running.