Keswick 35 Upper Eden 5

Keswick faced Upper Eden for the first time this season, at Davidson Park on Saturday. The conditions were excellent with a cool wind blowing down the pitch, facing Keswick in the first half. Upper Eden kicked off and an exchange of kicks ended with the first scrum put in to Keswick, who dominated in what was to be a pattern for the game, winning the game’s first penalty. The wind kept the ball in play, allowing Upper Eden to attack back, but Keswick were soon back in the opposition half.

The next scrum saw more Keswick dominance, the ball picked up at the back and run right, but Ryan Weir was forced into touch short of the line. This resulted in an injury to the Upper Eden captain who had to leave the field, the first of 3 injury replacements for them. From the line-out Keswick gained a penalty in front of the posts, converted by Andy Muir for 3-0 on 5 minutes. The next Keswick attack, from another dominant scrum, was on the left but also ended with a line-out. The next attack was stopped just short on the right, run left, but stopped again, by an Upper Eden defence that was proving difficult to overcome.

On 10 minutes the Keswick scrum were able to push Upper Eden back across their try line for Aaron Thompson to pick up at the back and dot down for the game’s first try, unconverted as the wind drifted the ball wide; 8-0. The wind was proving difficult for the line-out throwers as a number drifted not straight from both sides. Taking the opportunity of advantage being played, Keswick kicked the ball across the try line but were beaten to the touch down and Upper Eden were able to clear from the 22. Both sides suffered from poor ball handling, knocking on and handing over possession.

On 20 minutes Upper Eden made their first sustained attack into the Keswick half, winning a penalty which they kicked to the corner. Well taken in the line-out their pack mauled the ball across the try line for James Birkbeck to score an unconverted try, 8-5 and Upper Eden were putting on some good pressure. Their defence was solid and they were dangerous in attack, creating problems for the home defence. Despite Keswick’s scrum dominance the game was well contested with neither side able to score to draw clear. Keswick had an unsuccessful penalty kick at goal and on 35 minutes had a player yellow carded for a dangerous tackle but half time came with the score at 8-5.

The second half started with Upper Eden immediately attacking into the Keswick 22, but lost at the line-out and Keswick made progress into the their 22, putting the ball into touch and winning against the throw-in at the line-out. Running the ball right the final pass was knocked forward and a scoring chance went begging. Another scrum penalty ensued and Keswick spent much of the start of the half deep inside the Upper Eden 22, despite some good attacks by them which created some exciting end-to-end play. The deadlock was broken when an attack on the left ended with a good break by Jamie Mckenzie, who made a timed pass to James Benson who scored an uncovered try in the corner for 13-5 on 8 minutes.

Upper Eden’s response got them into the Keswick 22 where a scrambled clearance kick was charged down and they were unlucky that the final pass was knocked forward with only the line to beat. This was the point where the game changed, as from the scrum on the Keswick 5 metre line, Thompson picked up at the back, made 10 metres and passed the ball to Weir on the right wing, who beat a number of attempted tackles to score under the posts, the successful conversion by Andy Muir for 20-5 on 15 minutes. Shortly after an attempted intercept was adjudged a deliberate knock-on resulting in a second Keswick player being yellow carded.

Despite their man advantage, Upper Eden were unable to take advantage, though they came close to creating a successful overlap on a few occasions. The Keswick line-out started misfiring, gifting possession to the away side who made good use of Keswick’s largesse, but despite making progress towards the try line were let down by poor handling. A line-out to Keswick on the halfway line was well taken and the ball fed to Weir who broke 3 tackles to score an unconverted try under the posts for 25-5 on 30 minutes and the try bonus point.

Upper Eden now struggled to contain a Keswick team that had gained the upper hand, despite poor handling and a malfunctioning line-out. Driving them off the ball at a scrum option at the penalty, Keswick again gave the ball to Weir, who completed his hat trick with an unconverted try in the corner, for 30-5 with the final whistle beckoning. However, there was still time from the kick-off for Weir to run through the Upper Eden defence for his fourth try from 60 metres, again unconverted, to make the final score 35-5.

This good win keeps Keswick at the top of Cumbria Division One, opening a gap on Aspatria, who went down to St Benedicts, who have now beaten both top 2 teams despite only having won 3 games.

This follows on from a successful Friday evening trip to Egremont by the 2nd XV, who came away with a 31-28 win. Saturday sees the 1st XV at home to Whitehaven in the League Cup, kick off at 1415, whilst the 2nd XV are also at home, to West Park (St Helens) in their league, kick off also at 1415. With some excellent rugby to watch at Davidson Park his should be an excellent day.