UPPER Eden Boars played their part in a compelling Westmorland and Furness Trophy final in front of a good crowd at Pennine Park on Saturday but, try as they might, they could not get the better of their opponents.

After a series of open early exchanges, Kendal took the lead in the 29th minute when their back row Andrew Holdcroft charged forward. Quick ruck ball then found its way to Evans Onyango who scored. Tony Bingham's conversion attempt rebounded off the post and the Boars then created pressure of their own. A penalty in front of the posts, which was delayed for nearly 30 minutes because of a player with a neck injury, was eventually taken by Mike Hughes and, despite two more missed Boars' penalties, that was the score at half-time, 3-5.

Kendal rang the changes in the second half, replacing their entire front row and using their other two substitutes as well. But before extra power and experience started to tell, the Boars had their best spell, missing two penalties before Mike Hughes fired them into a 6-5 lead with a simple penalty from in front of the posts.

Kendal then missed a penalty attempt before Kendal full-back Dale Lowrey took a quick tap penalty that fuelled a driving maul from which replacement hooker Jason Donohue burst over the line for the winning try, just 12 minutes from time. Upper Eden still had chances to win the match themselves but never quite gelled as a unit, frustratingly taking the wrong option at crucial moments. The match, which brought down the curtain on Upper Eden's season, was sponsored by Mike Dinsdale Haulage, of Appleby.