Wirral 15

Kendal 28

YELLOW cards were being thrown left, right and centre but with some excellent attacking play at the end of the first half to establish a good lead, an equally strong defence saw Kendal manage to hold on for a vital victory against Wirral.

With time, games and points to gain running out, and Lymm 12 points clear, this was a must win game and Wirral had only lost at home three times this season.

The team was little changed from last week with Dan Wilson joining the backs in place of Mark Carruthers; Chris Evans replacing injured John Dervey in the second row, and Dan Shorrock and Ben Dixon coming onto the bench.

Wirral were soon hit with a set back after one of their player’s was forced off with his leg in a splint.

Kendal were the next to have a man down after just 15 minutes of play. Kris Bratton was injured when trying to make a tackle and was forced off to be replaced by Dan Shorrock with Myles Harrop moving into the centre and Shorrock taking his place on the wing.

After holding out through a long period of Wirral pressure, the Kendal defence was finally broken after 20 minutes.

A penalty was taken quickly and with a few quick passes from Wirral it saw the opposition open the score 5-0.

Just a couple of minutes later, Kendal’s defence was caught offside and Wirral fullback Daniel Harvey added another penalty, making it 8-0.

Kendal were finally getting in to the game with Wayne Ngubane frequently breaking the defence but despite good work from Chris Downham other support players were too slow to arrive, meaning the opposition defence was able to re-group.

Just at the 30 minute mark, Wayne Ngubane’s second chance to score came and with no attempt to retreat from Wirral’s defence, he powered his way through for a touchdown.

Glen Weightman, who captained the game in the continued absence of Dom Musetti, added the conversion for the score to become 8-7.

Due to injury time, the first half was not yet over, and Kendal were awarded a penalty and rather than take the three points the team took a scrum. Wirral held out but they were penalised again, the penalty was moved wide, and Glen Weightman was tackled high as he went for the line.

The referee yellow carded the Wirral flanker and awarded a penalty try, as he decided the tackle had prevented a score.

Man of the match Danny Barker also made good ground before the end of the half with Chris Downham on hand to take a pass out of tackle and then returning the ball to Barker who went through to score, ending the first half 8-21.

There was still time to play, and Kendal put themselves under pressure gathering the re-start kick. Wirral set up a number of attacks, but the half ended when Dan Wilson got in to force a penalty, as a Wirral player failed to release in the tackle.

The start of the second half also saw another try from Kendal’s Shorrock who weaved his way through the defence for a touch down.

Kendal’s momentum was disrupted, however, as the game had to be stopped due to a second serious injury to a Wirral player, this time fullback Daniel Harvey was forced off.

With Wirral restored to 15 players, having conceded 21 points, it was Kendal’s turn to be reduced to 14 men.

This time Chris Downham was carded for an infringement after the team was penalised for not having retreated for a penalty.

Wirral set up a number of attacks, but the Kendal defence was holding firm, although they were conceding a number of penalties. From another penalty for failing to retreat, a Wirral player went over for a try.

Kendal soon went from 14 to 13 men as Jack Lashley also received a yellow card for speaking back to the referee. This forced the team to change their format as Robbie Collinson came on as hooker and Garry Holmes moved to prop.

As the squad was restored to its full team and with five minutes to play Mark Irving became the fourth player to be yellow carded, but the defence still continued to hold firm.

There was eight minutes of added time, due to earlier injuries, but the referee decided he had seen enough and Kendal were able to celebrate only their second five point game of the season.

The result was made even greater as for over 30 minutes of the second half Kendal were a man down.