Kirkby march on in Vase quest (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Kirkby march on in Vase quest

8:59am Friday 3rd November 2006 in

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Kirkby Lonsdale........15 Blackburn....................5 RAMPANT Kirkby Lonsdale saw off Blackburn in the second round of the EDF Senior Vase to set up a third round home tie in two weeks' time with South Lancashire and Cheshire League side Widnes.

Kirkby's high-flying league form translated into cup superiority even though they were without Hadwin, Barton, Squires and Holmes.

A reshuffle put Walker at scrum-half with Storey moving to stand-off.

Despite the wet pitch the home side set off at pace, but it quickly became obvious that Blackburn were planning to use their big pack to drive through.

The visitors set up an attack near the halfway line but were startled when Groves intercepted and flew downfield. As he reached the full back Green appeared on his shoulder and a good pass put him away to score in the corner.

A welcome return by fullback Mallaband saw his conversion from the touchline hit the middle of the crossbar and bounce over for 7-0.

There was a lengthy delay when referee Paul Sharman, who had been keeping a tight grip on the game, turned his ankle in the long grass, but he eventually managed to continue throughout despite the pain.

Blackburn got on his wrong side with a series of penalties and from the fourth Mallaband's shot at the posts narrowly missed. The 22 drop-out kick was charged down, however, and the ball quickly passed to the left wing for Green to go over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Blackburn continued with their determined, driving play, but Kirkby's tackling was strong and half-time was reached with the home side holding a useful 12-0 lead.

After some stop-start play the visitors were caught offside and Mallaband kicked the penalty for 15-0.

Galvanised into action, Blackburn mauled the ball into the Kirkby 22 and eventually crossed the line for the fist points scored against the home side at Underley Park this season.

The conversion failed but supporters feared a comeback, even more so when play became heated and R. Robinson was yellow-carded. Blackburn failed to capitalise on the man advantage and, with Storey putting in some telling kicks, the 10 minutes passed without further score.

Mallaband, who early on had looked a little rusty, also fielded an immense kick and returned it with interest.

With a wet ball and two hard-tackling sides there was no further score.

n WANDERERS played Fylde Fourths and recovered from 11-0 down to score some good tries and win 22-11.