KENDAL director of rugby Steve Whitehead heaped praise on the less experienced members of his squad after they stepped up to fill voids left by injuries in a narrow win at home to New Brighton.

The Black and Ambers were 26-3 up at the break but conceded two tries and one penalty - without troubling the scoreboard - as they hung on to claim their fifth straight win of the North One West season at Mint Bridge.

The home side were without influential skipper James Gough, centres Bob Mataia and Dini Nayo as well as Leo Mercer.

With a number of youngsters drafted into the starting 15, Whitehead was delighted his team came away victorious.

"It was a bit closer than it should have been," admitted Whitehead. "There were a lot of changes but it was a good chance to see some of the young lads.

"The lads that came in played particularly well, stuck to what we asked them to do and were very impressive. We have worked with them for a season-and-a-half now and I think they really stood up on Saturday and in training their attitude has been exemplary."

While happy with the win, Whitehead criticised his players for being over-confident.

"It should have been business as usual," he said. "We've had a run of success which can sometimes give you a bit of false confidence. We started extremely well, stuck to the game plan and executed it at a pace they couldn't live with.

"One or two individuals grew in confidence which resulted in us going away from our game plan which allowed them back into the game.

"When you are over confident you tend to try and do things without breaking the opposition down which results in putting yourself under undue pressure.

"Latterly in the game we were comfortably the better side but we did make it difficult for ourselves and we could have actually put ourselves in jeopardy."

Kendal host second-bottom Wigton on Saturday but Whitehead insists his team will not be complacent against a team who have yet to record a victory.

"They have had a very difficult opening few fixtures and at some point their fortunes will turn around," he said.

"We've got to be very careful. It's a bit of a derby which gives it a different edge. The coaching staff and myself will never be complacent or take the task lightly. It's a learning curve when you've got younger lads in a league leading position for the first time but we must learn from last week.

"We've got to put sides to the sword and keep them there and it's usually a mature side who can do that but we are very much still developing and I am confident we have the players who can do that."