Match report Kirkby Lonsdale v Carlisle Under 14 County Cup semi-final 24-2-19

Carlisle U14’s had been handed a very tough away tie in their County Cup semi-final versus Kirkby Lonsdale, a team which they had not played very often previously.
With 20 players being available for Carlisle it made Head Coach, Marc Quinn’s, selection very difficult as he was determined to give all the lads plenty of game time, regardless of their experience. Indeed in Carlisle’s starting 15 there were 2 lads who had only played a handful of games previously and more experienced players as subs ready to come on for the second half.

Kirby Lonsdale kicked off and it became very clear that their local knowledge of the pitch was a big advantage with a considerable slope and dip into the bottom left hand corner, which they kicked deep into and pinned Carlisle back for several minutes. Carlisle simply couldn’t get out of the corner despite great tackling from Stan Baglee and Josh Hope and eventually Kirkby piled over for the first try, which gave them great encouragement.

The pattern of play for the whole first half was repeated with Carlisle trying to carry the ball out of their own half and Kirkby constantly kicking the ball at every opportunity to pin Carlisle back down the hill.
In fact it was a relief when the first half finished and Carlisle were only 12 points to nil behind.

Changes to the Carlisle team were made at half time with several influential players coming on for the second half and Jak Quinn coming on to play Stand Off. This immediately made a big difference to Carlisle’s composure and control and resulted in some good handling which allowed Dan Gorman to show his pace and score under the posts for Carlisle.

Carlisle continued to press the Kirkby team and the referee started to award several penalties for the Kirkby lads being offside in their keenness to get to the Carlisle half backs before they could pass the ball wide. This improved discipline from the ref allowed Carlisle to get their backs into the game more and Okan Akdeniz charged over for Carlisle’s second try, Both teams then took penalty opportunities and the game was really in the balance with Carlisle just edging it at 15-17.

Kirkby Lonsdale continued to kick at every opportunity with some really great kick chases which continued to put Carlisle Full Back, Will Garson, under pressure, which he rose to time and time again, catching the ball cleanly and running it back under pressure. It was another great kick and chase by Kirkby that saw the bounce of the ball evade all the Carlisle players and several knock ons later (by both teams) Kirkby ran over the line and scored under the posts. 22-17 to Kirkby Lonsdale.

The Carlisle lads galvanised themselves for one last big push with time running out and kicked long from the re-start and counter rucked Kirkby off the ball before a great ball carry from Fynn Wright took Carlisle within 10 yards of the line and Kirkby retreating but battling all the way. Quick ball was available for the Carlisle backs but inside Centre Josh Hope saw that Kirkby were slightly disorganised for once around the ruck and came in from his Centre position to pick the ball from the back foot and run straight for the line at speed. With 2 tacklers on him he stretched over the line one handed to score and bring the match all square with only seconds to spare. 22-22.

Dan Gorman, who had kicked brilliantly all day, had the conversion attempt from 10 yards in from the right touchline to win the match for Carlisle. He struck the ball perfectly and it sailed high and directly over the left post. Both the Carlisle and Kirkby Lonsdale coaches standing behind the goals looked at each other and shrugged unsure if it had gone over or not but the referee standing on the pitch was certain that it hadn’t and blew the whistle for full time for a 22-22 draw.

Both sets of coaches agreed that 5 minutes each way extra time was the fairest way to settle the match and after a short break Carlisle kicked off “up the hill” and kept the ball in the Kirkby half for nearly all of the additional 5 minutes and were eventually awarded another penalty for offside which Dan Gorman expertly kicked to make it 22-25 to Carlisle.

Kicking down the hill in the second half of extra time the fitness of the Carlisle lads started to show and they pinned Kirkby back and started to control the rucks more effectively, eventually allowing the ball to get passed out to the backs and for Okan Akdeniz to barrage over for his second try, making the final score Kirkby Lonsdale 22 Carlisle 30.

A really exciting and hard fought game played in an exemplary spirit by both groups of players who were equally respectful in victory and defeat immediately after the match.

Josh Hope was awarded Man of the Match for Carlisle by the Kirkby coaches but there were also outstanding performances from Will Garson, Dan Gorman and Okan Akdeniz amongst others.
Many thanks to everyone at Kirkby Lonsdale for the match and their outstanding hospitality from the coaches and players throughout the day.

Carlisle will play St Benedict’s in the Final on the 14th of April. Good Luck Lads!

Report by John Hope