Hawcoat Park earned the double in the Duddon Estuary derby with a 33-0 win at Millom in Cumbria Division One, with Benji Platt scoring two tries at Wilson Park.

The Maroon and Whites were made to work very hard by their hosts in a game where the eventual scoreline did not reflect how tight a contest took place.

The early exchanges were fairly even as both teams got back into the swing of things after the festive break. Millom had a big powerful pack who were running strongly and our defence had to be good to manage the pressure applied.

The stalemate was broken midway through the first half after fly-half George Smith hoisted a high kick and as the Millom defender caught the ball, outstanding back row Alfie White hit him with a perfectly timed tackle.

As the ball came loose, centre Will Coles booted the ball on and won the chase to the ball to touch down for the try, which Smith converted.

The last ten minutes of the half were all Millom as they battered away at the Hawcoat try line, using a strong scrum on the back of a few penalties we were really under the cosh. The half-time whistle came as welcome relief certainly from a Maroon and White point of view, with the visitors 7-0 ahead.

The early exchanges of the second half followed a similar patter, with the match continuing to be a good close hard physical battle right across the pitch.

Skipper Chris Burns collected the important second try for the visitors after 55 minutes, following good runs by Alex Brown and Platt down the left wing.

The ball was stretched the other direction through many hands before White slipped a near short pass for Burns to finish off the try, with Smith again converted.

Three further tries followed all for the supporters who had made the trip round the bay, all scored by wingers and following good handling involving players throughout the club.

Platt collected two and had Jack Sutherland and Ryan Clegg to thank for their efforts to free him up, while Glenn Kaighan scored the other and had run well when given the opportunity.

Burns, now operating in the back row, provided the final pass from a good off-load and earlier good work by Alex Brown and Coles.

It was a good team performance from the Maroon and Whites at a difficult place to place and the score did not reflect Millom's committed efforts.

Surviving on what must have been 35 per cent possession, Hawcoat's defence had to be good to ‘nil’ a determined Millom side and make it a good start to 2020.