8 Try Thriller at Davidson Park

Keswick's first league game of the season turned out to be an unexpected 8 try thriller last Saturday, which kept the large and enthusiastic crowd enthralled until the final whistle. The opposition were De La Salle (Salford), runners-up in the league last season, so a hard game was anticipated.
In ideal conditions for open running rugby Keswick played into the sun for the first half. They showed excellent early potential, putting De La Salle under pressure both in open play and the set piece. Line-outs were excellent, with Keswick winning their own put-in, as well as disrupting the opposition’s. Following an exchange of penalties, with both sides missing kicks at goal, Keswick overpowered a De La Salle scrum to gain possession and create good running play to allow Ryan Weir to score an unconverted try in the corner. 5-0 after 25 minutes.
More good possession and running play showed Keswick's quality, with forwards and backs combining well. After 2 warnings and a yellow card for De La Salle from an excellent referee, Keswick captain Aaron Thompson crossed the line for a try, converted by Andy Muir to lead by 12-0 at half-time.
In the the first move of the second half De La Salle showed why they were so successful last season by getting to within 2 metres of the Keswick line. However, strong defence denied them and in response, following a penalty which Keswick kicked into the De La Salle half, a hard drive by the forwards from a line-out allowed Andy Muir to cross for a try which he converted himself for a 19-0 lead.It was now that De La Salle picked up the pace, forwards and backs combining to drive round the fringes and with the help of a penalty again got to within 2 metres of the try line then recycled the ball for their stand off to score under the posts. Before the successful conversion a Keswick player was yellow carded for a technical offence at the final ruck before the try, the referee having played advantage. It was now De La Salle’s turn to benefit from having an extra player. Although indiscipline cost them penalties against, they were able to stretch the Keswick defence to score an unconverted try after taking a quick tap penalty within the Keswick 22. A yellow card is usually worth 7 points to the opposition and that was the second time in the match that had been the case. 19-12 to Keswick, putting De La Salle onto a losing bonus point.
Not to be outdone, Keswick responded immediately from the kick-off, putting the ball into touch 5 metres from the De La Salle line on the left. A great line out steal saw Keswick gain possession for captain Aaron Thompson to score an unconverted try in the corner, his second, gaining a fourth try bonus point as well; 24-12. De La Salle came back hard, forcing Keswick to defend staunchly for the remaining 10 minutes of the game. Unfortunately a high tackle resulted in a second yellow card against Keswick, leaving them to defend to the end one man short. De La Salle resumed their tactic of driving hard round the fringes of the breakdown coming within inches of the line on 4 occasions before being held up over the line to get the put-in at the resulting scrum. The Keswick pack drove De La Salle off the ball to win possession but a penalty for not releasing after the tackle resulted in more driving play and a third try for De La Salle. The kicker rushed the conversion as time was running out and missed, 24-17.
In the remaining couple of minutes Keswick were forced to defend against more driving play from some powerful players, but still a man short were unable to plug all the gaps and with the final play of the game De La Salle drove over for their own fourth try and a bonus point. This time the kicker took his time and converted successfully for a draw, 24-24. Honours even and 3 points for both teams as each won a bonus point for scoring 4 tries.
Whilst not the result Keswick had anticipated at half time this was nevertheless an excellent performance against a powerful and successful team. The pack was impressive, pushing the opposition off their own ball in the scrum. The backs ran excellent lines, breaking the opposition line and the support play was very good throughout. There is much to be admired in the team’s performance and the spectators were entertained royally. This is a team well worth coming to see. The next home game is on Saturday 16th September at Davidson Park, 3pm kick-off.

Picture: Kes