Furness’ final game before Christmas ended in a 31-7 defeat in cold and wintry conditions at Workington in Cumbria Division One last Saturday.

The hosts went ahead against the run of play with a well-taken try after 15 minutes, but Furness hit back when Chris Dalton marked his return to the side by going in near the posts, with Dave Finlayson’s conversion levelling the score.

Despite an apparent forward pass in the build-up, Workington went ahead again when a grubber kick from their scrum-half led to their winger going over and their lead was extended to 17-7 at half-time.

Furness, whose only replacement had never played a game of rugby before, fell further behind through an intercept try that sealed the Zebras’ bonus point.

Due to a sin-binning to Craig McQuistan and a dislocated kneecap to Tom Askew, the visitors finished the game with 13 men and Workington added a fifth try with them in such a weakened state.

Windermere faced the tough test of a trip to Upper Eden and although they put up a brave fight, they eventually succumbed to a 29-7 defeat that leaves them 11th going into the mid-season break.

The task of facing league leaders Cockermouth ended in a 47-8 loss for Millom, as their hosts went four points clear at the top thanks to Hawcoat Park’s win over Wigton, while Hawcoat Park defeated Preston Grasshoppers 4th XV 41-31.