Only 4 days after their cup defeat at Carlisle, Keswick met Burnley in the league at Davidson Park on Saturday. Having won at Burnley, who were having a difficult time and were bottom of the league, the team were in confident mood. The going was wet and heavy with a strong and gusting wind in Burnley’s favour in the first half. For 2 Keswick players this was going to be their first First XV game and both put in strong performances.
Keswick attacked from the whistle and could have scored early but for a forward pass. From a line-out after a penalty the Keswick pack drove forward before releasing the ball to the backs for Bunting to carve through from 35 yards to score a try under the posts after 7 minutes, converted by Muir for a 7-0 lead. Burnley immediately attacked, kicking the ball across the Keswick line but were beaten to the touchdown. A quickly taken drop out and good running by Muir and Ray forced a penalty and line-out, won by Wharmby and driven forward for a try by Maguire, converted off the upright by Muir for 14-0. After an exchange of possession, good driving forward play tied in Burnley players allowing Muir to break through in the centre to score under the posts, a try he converted himself for a 21-0 lead after 18 minutes.
Burnley responded well, attacking hard and winning penalties over the next few minutes before they too were denied a score by a forward pass. Having won another scrum Burnley again chipped through but once more were beaten to the touchdown for another Keswick 22 dropout. After an excellent pickup and break by Roper from the back of a scrum he timed a perfect pass for Weir to score on the right for the bonus point try, converted again by Muir, 28-0. With 5 minutes of the half left Keswick scored again following good forward pressure with Benson making a clean break to touch down to the left of the posts; Muir converted again for 35-0. Soon after Keswick opted for a scrum instead of a penalty 5 metres out and good passing in the backs allowed Weir to score again, this time the conversion missed and the half-time whistle went with the score at 40-0.
Burnley started the second half with a sustained period of good attacking play, winning scrums and penalties close to the Keswick line but stout Keswick defence denied them a score. The tables were then turned, with Keswick unable to convert pressure to points and there was no score for almost 20 minutes before good running play by the backs from centre field allowed Weir to cross for his third try, unconverted to take the score to 45-0. Burnley kept attacking but were denied the chance to score by handling errors, which both sides suffered from on occasion. Further good back play by Keswick found Ray in amongst the backs and having taken a pass he successfully fended off a couple of tackles to score on the right, again converted by Muir, 52-0. More Burnley handling errors gave Keswick further scoring opportunities they didn’t manage to take before a wayward clearance kick was run back only for a Keswick handling error with the line beckoning. Normal service was resumed shortly after from a scrum and a turnover with backs and forwards combining for Bell to score on the right, again converted by Muir, 59-0 with 5 minutes left. That was still enough time for a line-out steal by Mckenzie and a final conversion by Muir for a final score of 66-0.
The result puts Keswick second in the league with 2 games in hand and with the best defensive record in the league. With games still to play against the other top of the table contenders nothing is assured and there is all to play for. The next game is on Saturday, away at Eccles and the next home game is on 17 February.