MOORTOWN 26 KENDAL 10

Due to the state of the Moortown pitch this game was arranged to be played on the artificial pitch at nearby Yarnbury RUFC, with a kickoff time of 5.00pm following a previous game between Yarnbury and Barnsley.

With Kendal’s supporters having been deposited at Moortown, the players were delivered to Yarnbury and left to do their preparation there with the coach returning to collect the supporters contingent later.

Although the weather had been sunny and bright for most of the day there was a difficult cross wind and just before kickoff at 5.15pm it began to rain and it was bitterly cold.

Despite the deteriorating weather Kendal made a promising start with the players as named in the programme and Lewis Kincart, Dan Sharrock and Tom Moulton as subs.

From the Moortown kickoff the ball went dead and Kendal had a good period of play in the Moortown half before taking the lead after eleven minutes through a try under the posts by Mark Carruthers following a deft sidestep from Glen Weightman who duly converted.

This stirred Moortown into some determined running from their 6ft 3in winger who passed to their full back Mark Greenwood, who powered over for their first score but the same player failed to convert.

With Moortown starting to get the upper hand their wing forward Xavier Martin made good ground through some poor tackling, going over for their second try with the conversion by Mark Greenwood.

This spurred the Kendal pack into action, but after recycling the ball over a dozen times the pack failed to breech the Moortown defence.

After 38 minutes Danny Barker had to leave the field with suspected concussion and a very impressive ‘shiner’ - he was replaced by Dan Sharrock.

With the game well balanced and both teams using the wind to their advantage the score remained the same for the next quarter apart from a penalty by Glen Weightman. Ben Dixon then had to leave the field due to a nasty gash to his forehead.

With Lewis Kincart having exchanged with Jordan Johnson, Tom Moulton came on and Steve Nelson went into the backs.

Although the Kendal forwards were beaten in the tight and lineout ball was proving difficult for both sides, Kendal seemed to be gaining the upper hand and kept the opposition pinned in their own half until a long clearance kick was shepherded back from our own 22 by Kendal’s man of the match Greg Wrathall.

Having survived this threat and the ever deteriorating conditions which were synonymous with the last three games in the Lakes, plus snow flurries and driving rain, Kendal took Moortown back into their own 22 and had control of the ball

However, for some inexplicable reason Glen Weightman decided to attempt a highly improbable drop goal which was charged down and kicked through by Moortown. The retreating defence were unable to gather the ball which trickled over the try line for Moortown to touch down and convert.

This completely disheartened the players and Kendal went on to concede a further converted try which did not reflect the game from which they had been looking to salvage a bonus point only minutes earlier. This highlighted the problem which Kendal has had in a few previous games,when crucial decisions by key players has cost them bonus points which could prove invaluable come the end of the season.

Overall, Kendal performed well, but will be bitterly disappointed not to have come away with at least a point.