Kendal 37 Hull Ionians 21 (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Kendal 37 Hull Ionians 21

3:16pm Monday 26th September 2011 in Sport

KENDAL had something to prove after their poor display last time out, and they did not disappoint their fans, running in five excellent tries against the Humbersiders and earning a five point win, writes Frank Jameson.

After a penalty for each side early on, the game burst into life with Kendal's favourite line out move in the 18th minute - a Reece Tomlinson catch and a forward drive for the line. Dries Venter who gained the touchdown, helped by Mark Ireland kicking the simple conversion.

Glenn Boyd tacked on another penalty for Hull, then on the half hour, an excellent dart by Simon Davidson from a scrum and a delayed pass as he was tackled saw David Barton burst towards the opposition line. Barton quickly switched the ball to fellow centre Leo Mercer, who dashed for the line to give Kendal a 17-6 lead at the break.

Only two minutes after the interval, Ireland went over the line after beginning his run from 40 metres out. From a midfield scrum, he went for the gap - chipped his opposing fly half, caught the rebound, and cheekily did the same to Hull full back Sam Wilson before diving on the loose ball as it was trickling towards the dead ball line for another converted try.

Man of the match Ireland, with 57 points, has now moved up to second in the league's top points scorers.

In spite of another penalty by Glenn Boyd for Hull, the home side went into another gear, as they hammered the Ionians defence, with another unstoppable drive from the Cumbrian pack seeing Garry Holmes emerge with the ball after the touchdown for a vital bonus point and moving 29-6 ahead.

Poor Kendal discipline in defence came about as Ionians made a rare attack on the home line. Chris Downham was yellow carded for deliberate offside near his own line, but this did not stop Kendal offending further, so referee Mark Liddell lost patience, and awarded a penalty try to Hull, Boyd adding the conversion.

For the next 10 minutes, Kendal started to lose their shape, giving away numerous penalties.

Kris Bratton made a fiesty break down the left wing but was brought down by a superb cover tackle by Olly Marns.

Ireland kicked another penalty to extend Kendal's lead to 32-13, but Hull started to fight back once more. Sam Wilson made a great break from full back, cutting inside the cover, but he was eventually nailed before he got too close to the posts.

Four minutes from time Kendal scored an excellent team try which saw Ian Voortman charge over in the right corner to make it 31-13.

Sam Wilson scored a consolation try in the opposite corner on the last minute of play, but this did not take the gloss off an excellent win for the Cumbrians, their best of the season so far.