ASKAM became the first team to defeat Kells this year as they booked their place in the under-14s Cumbria Cup final with a 20-12 victory at Craven Park.

The match was switched to the home of Barrow Raiders due to the Fallowfield Park pitch being too hard and provided both sets of players the chance to experience a professional environment.

The home side took the lead after just three minutes. A strong run from Lewis Stables led to a penalty, and from that Askam worked a swift attack which saw Dave Herdman offload to Evan Foster, who in turn found Ben Ashburner to send Bobby Steel over in the corner.

Three minutes later, Askam were in again when a kick from Ross McLaughlan was fumbled by a Kells defender and Callum Groves collected the loose ball to race over for a second unconverted score.

The West Cumbrian side hit back in the 13th minute when they worked superior numbers out on the left and Ashton Sice finished, followed by drawing level at 8-8 on 19 minutes when Finn Henderson sent Jack Ainley over.

However, Askam retook the lead three minutes before half-time when some strong Kells defence was eventually breached by hooker Eddie Goodson sneaking over from dummy-half for a try converted by Foster.

A knock-on from Kells led to Askam scoring another converted try early in the half and the win was sealed when Zak Wright crashed over following a tap restart from a penalty 14 minutes from time.

Askam still had to defend hard though and while Kells managed to get another try, there was to be no comeback as the villagers set up a meeting with either Millom or Hensingham.