Wigton Wanderers vs. Cockermouth RUFC
14th March 2009
This was a game that produced only 3 points, however, on another day both sides could have ended up with a hatful of tries. On many occasions Wigton broke away with pace only to be foiled by the super last ditch tackles of the Cockermouth backs. Cockermouth themselves came close on several occasions through a different route of strong forward driving, but again it was cracking defending that kept them out.
Playing with the strong wind in the first half, Cockermouth put Wigton under immediate pressure and a couple of quickly taken penalties took them to within 5 metres. A maul was driven over the try line but the ball was held up and from the 5-metre scrum Wigton managed to clear the ball down field. From the following lineout Wigton worked their way up field, a clever kick saw the ball end up 3 metres from the try line, Mike Shaw went down well and released it to Johnny Taylor who was on hand to clear. On 20 minutes Wigton again broke away and a try looked certain, this time it was Alan Denwood who made the try saving tackle. The only score of the game came when Ross Maguire converted a penalty.
The second half was similar to the first, both defences working hard and snuffing out many potential scoring opportunities. After good period of pressure by Cockermouth, Jess Thompson felt he got over the line to score a try but he was adjudged to have made a double movement. Wigton had a good spell of play during the third quarter and put the visitors under considerable pressure. Cockermouth’s tactic was, as Wigton had done against the wind, to run the ball out of defence rather than kick. Runners taking the ball at pace made good yardage, in particular Wayne Kavannah, showing how effective this part of the game can be.
The rest of the game remained even with both sides coming close to scoring that vital try. In this very competitive game Cockermouth had to work extremely hard throughout to beat a much improved Wigton team.
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