KIRKBY Lonsdale skipper Matt Hughes was in a philosophical mood after his side's derby day defeat away at Kendal.

He was disappointed with his team's defeat but happy that they managed to retain second place in the league.

Hughes insists that this loss, which ended an eight game unbeaten run for the Underley Park side, is just a minor blip.

"Not a lot has changed," said Hughes.

"We knew i would be a tough game and form means nothing in a derby game.

"We're still second in the league and we managed to get a losing bonus point.

"I'm not happy with the loss at all but I'm happy that we at least got something out of the game."

The game, which Kirkby lost by seven points, saw a dramatic shift after half time.

"It was the old cliche of a game of two halves," Hughes said.

"We were better in the first half and they were better in the second. Half time was the turning point.

"They came out fired up and they kept the ball from the kick off and played really good rugby.

"We knew they would come back at us and in the end they deserved it."

The skipper managed to haul himself over the line to get the first try of the game and he spoke to the Gazette about what it feels like to make an impact in such a big game.

"I actually scored against them at home last year," Hughes recollected.

"It's always good to score, especially in a derby. It's a really good feeling."

Kirkby were without their star kicker, Ryan Terry.

He has gone to play in Australia for nine months - something the Kirkby skipper was keen to hide from everyone until kick-off, for fear that it would give Kendal a mental advantage before the game had even started.

Terry has been influential so far this season and he will be missed as his side look to make the final push towards the summit of the league.

Hughes said: "He's a massive loss. He is averaging between ten and fifteen points a game. But, to be fair, even if we had kicked our penalties today we would still have lost. That said, Terry is still a big loss."