Workington Finches 13 Keswick Falcons 19
The Falcons had the edge in a high stakes game played in fine and calm conditions at Workington’s Ellis ground.
Keswick have remained unbeaten in the NC2 North league with the Finches sitting just below them with one loss.
At the kick off Keswick were focused and hit the ground running, immediately applying pressure against Workington to force an error gifting a scrum just outside the 22.
From here they attacked through the back line and were met by a strong defence that they would have to break down throughout the match to get beyond the gain line. Some unsupported play resulted in a turnover penalty to the home side who decided to kick for some ground and a line-out. However, the Finches’ efforts were met with confident and consistent steals from the Falcons with captain Leanne Grave towering an extra foot-and-a-half above her lifted person. This would be key towards Keswick’s victory from the set piece.
A penalty awarded back to Keswick for a high tackle allowed them a chance to gain some ground and structured play from a line-out, with one of the plays being passed to inside centre and the player of the match Bethani Fearns. She fearlessly crashed the ball into the defending line followed up by some great linking play between a pick and go from Nadia Lamb, a snipe at the ruck by back of the match Heather Creighton, finally leading up to a try with Workington unable to keep up with the pace of flanking powerhouse Emma Powell. The try was successfully converted by Vicky Mitchell all within the 10-minute mark, establishing that the Falcons were not going to mess around.
The Finches’ response was to kick for territory and chase through to apply the pressure on Keswick, which worked in the midfield due to a spillage from a tackle resulting in a scrum. Here they found their way to work up the pitch and gained a penalty for hands in the ruck. Taking the safer option against a hungry Keswick defence, the Finches kicked for three points to claw back at the Falcons’ lead.
The discipline lapsed for Keswick over the next five minutes. They were a bit too eager to win possession back from another ruck offence. Workington were quick to capitalise on this by playing as quickly as possible with a quick tap and the intention to get the lead in the first half. This resulted in a repeated penalty which was slotted over for another three points to bring the score near level, 6-7.
The match remained scoreless for a further 20 minutes with the Finches repeating their strategy of kicking downfield for as much ground as possible to try and force an error from Keswick. A scrum awarded to the home side on the Keswick 22 line was met with a powerful drive led by props Mag Todd and Caitlin Etisoy who were unfazed by Workington’s larger pack. They pushed back to win the ball and provide a vital turnover and breathing space for the Falcons to get into open play. Caitlin would go on to win forward of the match as she displayed great strength in her carries and good support to her team-mates.
Keswick would respond with their own kicking strategy catching the winger off guard for Lilly Hodgson to kick and chase through, followed by Bethani who retrieved the ball and off loaded to Rose Curle gaining 50m back into the home half and securing a penalty for Keswick to extend their dominance up the pitch.
It was back and forward between both teams for the next 10 minutes with the Falcons in possession for most of the play. They would persevere and attack deeper into the opposite half wearing down Workington who were starting to tire while rolling on a few substitutions. Workington were forced to defend hard against Keswick progress and gifted them a few penalties for high tackles.
One of them was 15m from the try line and a quick tap and go drew many unaware defenders towards a ruck, setting Keswick up with an overlap of players with the simple option of a pass to Leanne to walk over the line before half-time.
Keswick would play into the sun’s glare in the second half with the confidence of the lead behind them. A few changes gave the visitors the edge in attack with one of those being Cheska Horsburgh who at some points proved extremely difficult to tackle and gained vital yards for the Falcons.
Keswick displayed some impressive offloads in open play to keep the ball alive as much as possible and keep the defence on the back foot avoiding the stalemates and slowing down the ball.
Great rugby was displayed by both teams trading possession and unable to get through each other’s defences with only the penalties providing the extra distance required to get in close to the try line. One of these penalties resulted in a yellow card for Workington and Keswick’s Lilly Hodgson took it quickly to out manoeuvre the defensive line into the corner to let Keswick breathe, bringing the scoreline to 6-19.
Keswick played conservatively here and remained in control by kicking back into the Workington half and then working hard to regain possession until the end of the game.
For the remaining 20 minutes the Falcons almost came within scoring again with Workington desperately reverting from their kicking game to pursuing a try. Eventually the Workington winger was sent the ball on a long pass in a foot race to run over the line for a converted try, ending the game at 13-19.
The Falcons remain in full flight atop the league and are unbeaten with no signs of slowing down. The next month may prove their greatest challenge of the year as they play a development game against Kendal on Sunday at Davidson Park, followed by a county cup match against Kendal at theirs. This will be a great test of their skills as Kendal sit two leagues above the Falcons.
