KIRKBY Lonsdale were unfortunately defeated in their recent match against Alnwick.

The return of the powerful veteran Dan Armistead to the Hookers role in the Front Row certainly steadied the Kirkby pack in the initial stages and gave the visitors bigger set of Forwards as good they got in early exchanges.

Unfortunately the absence of the talisman Captain & Half Back Dan Walker proved critical in both defence and attack.

Committed tackling from almost the entire Kirkby team managed to disrupt Alnwicks early persistent attacking surges, but giving little opportunity for Kirkby to gain any territorial progress.

A strong tricky wind caused real difficulty at lineouts with the ball drifting off line and either being called not straight or even presenting a gift ball to Alnwicks taller jumpers.

As Kirkby toiled to stem the Alnwick wave of pressure, the inevitable gaps appeared in the Kirkby defence and were exploited as they were stretched wide by the oppositions better organised young strong fast back line.

So the pattern for the day was pretty much established, with Alnwick growing in confidence and Kirkby without any real firepower unable to mount an effective counter attack but sticking bravely to the defensive tasks.

Following a rare foray up field Alnwick were penalised gifting Kirkby an opportunity to go for a try but they opted to take an easy three points to get on the score sheet.

Half time score 3-22 to Alnwick.

The penalty was a small respite as later a Kirkby player was yellow carded which caused further problems for the home team.

The final score saw Kirkby on 3 and Alnwick on 48.

Great concern and faint hopes have been made for the Kirkby faithful that injuries and absences can be resolved and a full first 15 competitive team can be assembled before the leagues big hitters come to Underley Park.