Aspatria travelled to league leaders Northern on Saturday and were met with a chilly crisp winters afternoon, ideal for rugby, but played on a claggy pitch as result of the recent snows and frost.

The first 15 minutes of the game were hectic. Supporters were out of breath watching whilst I assume players from both sides were wondering if this could be maintained for 80 minutes. Any turnovers or mistakes were continuously played with advantage which resulted in very few stoppages.

It was a credit to both sides, and the referee that the first penalty of the game was not until the 18th minute of the match. The recipients of this were the home side who received a penalty under the sticks from a line break that was stopped illegally it seemed. A quickly taken penalty was spread wide and ran in round the corner to open the scoring. 7:0 but Aspatria were very much in the game and sharing possession.

Aspatria now camped in the Northern half for several phases when unfortunately, they were bizarrely penalised for a scrum infringement when on top to allow the hosts to release the pressure. A second try was taken by the host after the 30-minute mark and that took the score to 12:0.

Aspatria roared back and looked like they had snatched a try before half time after some fine work down the flank from Ryan Scott released Dan Weir. Dan in his usual fashion, beat 3 defenders in the tiniest of spaces to get over the try line but in the act of scoring, a desperate hand from a defender dislodged the ball inches from the ground. The half time score of 12:0 could easily have been 12:7 but Aspatria were very much in the game.

Unfortunately, 5 minutes in the 2nd half, fullback Scott was sinbinned with a no arms tackle. After some pressure from the home side, they crossed out wide to stretch their lead to 19:0. The game continued to see possession evenly split and whilst a 4th, and BP score was added again out wide, from the 60-minute mark, Aspatria gradually started to get on top. Scrum dominance went unrewarded on several occasions and at one point a disintegrating scrum left number 8 Matthew Atkinson literally stood by himself with the ball at his feet. Another ball was dropped over the line as Northern were pushed back towards their tryline, several penalties were conceded and the fact a yellow wasn’t issued was perhaps due to good fortune as Alex Barton stole a quick penalty and waltzed under the sticks for a deserved try.

From the resulting kick off, 2nd row Jude Wilkinson returned the ball with interest to be met by two sturdy tacklers, The game naturally stopped as all thought a high tackle penalty would be awarded but it would just be a scrum to Aspatria after Wilkinson’s treatment.
Aspatria were now forcing the play a little to try and claw back another score and as the half drew to a close, A loose ball was quickly pounced on by Northern who again spread the ball wide to score out wide with the final play of the game and take the final score to 29:7.
Overall, a strong effort by the BlackReds. Northern are obviously a quality side and we didn’t need Saturday to see that. However, Aspatria can take great heart and confidence from the display and especially the work rate and vigour of all involved. MOM went to back rower Charlie Scott for showing those exact qualities.

Thank you to Northern for the post-match hospitality and to the referee who received a separate round of applause from both sides post-game for his handling of the game. There will always be some decisions we disagree on, some documented in the report and that’s rugby, but his approachability, in particular was outstanding and allowed both teams, and the game to flow, so thank you to the man in the middle.

For Aspatria, we look forward to welcoming Sunderland this coming Saturday, KO 14:15PM. With signs of the squad depth strengthening with the injury crisis from the start of the season now easing hopefully, Competition for places is now ramping up and adds even more purpose to training and performances on a Saturday.