Aspatria Hornets were on the losing start in their first game of the summer rugby league season when they were beaten 28-20 by a committed Lowca outfit.

Aspatria opened brightly and, using the slope to their advantage, put Lowca under an enormous amount of pressure early in the game. The Hornets pack was working well in the middle of the park and this gave players like Mark Irwin the chance to exploit some half-gaps out wide. Irwin was a threat all afternoon but just could not make that decisive break. However, he did cross the whitewash soon after this to give Aspatria the lead. Johnson added the conversion. 6-0 to the Hornets.

Lowca refused to lie down and after having forced some repeat sets with some astute tactical kicking they levelled the scores 6-6. This was the half-time score.

The half-time break certainly benefitted the West Cumbrians who hit the shell-shocked Hornets with a ferocious barrage in the first 20 minutes of the second period. They opened up a 22-6 advantage after exploiting some weak Aspatria defence on the left side and via a couple of excellent grubber kicks into the in-goal area.

Credit must be given to the Hornets as they did not fold and they actually mounted a remarkable comeback. First burly winger, Daniel Lloyd steamrollered his way over the line in the corner and Johnson slotted over a superb touchline conversion into a stiff wind. A scrum in the Aspatria half directly from the kick-off gave Lowca a good attacking position but it was 17 year old loose forward, Luke Crossman who picked the pocket of the Lowca scrum-half to intercept and sprint 60 metres to score. Johnson could not convert. Hooker, Andrew Wilson burrowed over from close range only for Kiwi referee and former Aspatria RU player, Wiremu Comp, to chalk it off for a double movement, much to Wilson's frustration.

Lowca then scored an opportunist try when their veteran hooker nipped over under the posts for a 6 point try. Aspatria were determined to have the last word and eventual man-of-the-match, Irwin steamed onto a crash ball and scored just to the left of the posts. Johnson missed, what to him was a regulation conversion. The whistle sounded after this to give Lowca an opening day win.

In the final analysis, Lowca deserved to win but it is worth bearing in mind that 8 of the Aspatria team only started playing rugby league last season and of the remaining players two are 17. This bodes well for the future and it is this type of tough encounter that will give the squad the experience it needs to progress.

The Hornets have another challenging fixture next week in that of Flimby. They will welcome back utilty forward, Craig Hamilton from a 3 game ban and he will add some bulk to the pack.