Morpeth RC ignore the heavy rain and enjoy a convincing win over Keswick

Fielding a much changed side there was a pace to their game, due in no small part, to a dominant scrum.

To their credit, Keswick played a spirited part in what was an entertaining spectacle. Praise also to the manner was game was played, helped tremendously by the referee.

Although Keswick controlled the early possession, it was Morpeth who made the first score. On 13 minutes, from an excellent attacking line out, backs and forwards linked well, before number 8 Clark spotted a gap, before crashing over. Burgess failed with the relatively easy penalty attempt. 5-0.

Yet back came Keswick on 19 minutes with a quick recycled ball that caused Morpeth to concede a penalty which was converted by fly half Mewse. 5-3.

At this stage it seemed anyone’s game.

Yet based on a more than solid foundation up front with Moody and Hill alongside Yilmaz who’s work rate was exceptional.

The hard running back row of Elliot Clark, Craig Donnelly and Alex Thompson, backed up by the expert promptings of Elliott at 9 and Burgess at 10, began to cause the Cumbrians significant problems.

It was a surprise that it took till the 30th minute for the home side to increase their lead. That it came as a pushover try wasn’t a great surprise, as Clark again dotted down with Callum Burgess converting. 12-3.

Morpeth increased their lead on 38 minutes when a good break from promising left wing Jack Wood forced an attacking line out. Then ignoring the conditions with some good handling, Burgess released the backs where Miles Gavaghan showed good strength to force his way over. 17-3.

On the stroke of half time, Clark completed an impressive first half hat-trick. It came about from a storming Thompson run before the number 8 picked up dived over. Burgess added the extras to make the half time score 31-3.

The rain became heavier as the match wore on. To their credit, Keswick played their part to the full. It was only thanks to an outstanding Donnelly turn over in the 55th minute that prevented the visitors from scoring.

But it wasn’t too long before normal service was resumed. On 58 minutes a super James Turner break led to an attacking scrum, and when Clark was denied, the impressive Elliott scooped up to score. 38-3.

The final try in the 70th minute was possibly the best, with backs and forwards combining and Turner again creating havoc, before second row Jackson went over to score.

Final score 43-3, and man of the match was Alex Thompson.