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This was a game played in the mud, a game of three halves and a game that was missing coach Nick Wilson who had been taken ill but whose first thoughts were to wish the team well.
The game began with a try to Aspatria direct from the start without a challenge on the sizeable forward who took the shortest route over the line. Cockermouth quickly responded and Colm Dubieniec threw off the challengers to level the score after two minutes.
Another restart and another immediate try to Aspatria then led to a period of more involved play from both teams with Aspatria showing some good defence deep in their own half. The ball was kept alive in this phase of the game as strong individual play flourished in the absence of positive tackles. Cockermouth scored the next try some excellent team tackling to win the ball and accurate passing to release William Bell on the left wing to score in the corner.
The second half started like the first as Aspatria scored again with a direct run through and around the visitors defence. Both teams then settled down to an evenly contested match. There was a developing sense of team play in the mauls and Aspatria showed good discipline in protecting the ball at the breakdown. The home side were able to break through in midfield but Harry Tyrell put in a superb tackle to deny the powerful Aspatria forward and demonstrate how even the smaller players can stop the most powerful at full pace.
The third half of the game accommodated the rotational substitutions, which allowed all the players from both teams a chance to get covered in the mud. If the many changes caused problems then they also gave all the Cockermouth team a chance to match up to a well-organised Aspatria team. As usual in this game, a quick try came from the start, this time it was Cockermouth who drew level when Colm Dubieniec wrestled through to cross the line.
The best move of the game came when Cockermouth won a midfield ball, which was moved out to Josh Watson. In the narrowest of channels on the right wing Watson danced towards the line but a hard tackle stopped him 2 meters short despite this he off-loaded the ball to Jordan Friel to cross the line but the pressure of some last ditch tackling caused the ball to be lost forward on the line. The next midfield contest saw Cockermouth take the lead for the first time, again mauling and driving helped supply the ball to Tom Norman who scored a good try.
The last phase of the game belonged to Aspatria who scored three more tries, each of these came from direct running skills and avoidance of tackles with excellent footwork. Cockermouth contested loose ball well, but once in the hands of the Aspatria team, they were unable to hold back the tide.
If Nick had been watching he would have seen the team steadily building on skills learnt on the training field, never giving up and acquitting themselves with a sense of enjoyment in the mud. Both teams were a credit to their clubs and their coaches.
Aspatria 6 tries - Cockermouth 4 tries
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