Keswick opened this seasons Cumbria League campaign at a sunny but breezy Millom. After last weeks tough encounter against a stronger than expected Carlisle side in the cup, it was the turn of Millom to take on a confident Keswick team. The wind would prove a factor in the game and Keswick started with that advantage. There were strong runs from the start from Aaron Thompson and Karl Smyth which set the overall tone for the game but there was a stroke of bad luck as Sam Hooper went over on his ankle and had to leave the game. Shortly after Keswick opened the scoring when they lost a scrum against the head but drove the Millom pack backwards to regain the ball before Thomson picked up and fed Andy Muir who drove over the line for a well deserved try.

The next try came after a 5 m scrum was won on the Keswick line with Paul Ireland kicking ahead and chasing then after a further 3 phases Andy Muir sent out a long missed pass to Stephen Hodgson who finished well in the corner. Ireland converted from far out to take the score to 12 - 0. Against the general run of play Millom hit back minutes later when poor tackling let their flanker score near the posts which left an easy conversion to make the score 12- 7.
Keswick showed true mettle to come straight back to score. Having earned a penalty from the kick off, Ireland put the ball in the corner. Thomson claimed the line out ball cleanly and the Keswick pack showed strength and composure to drive the maul over the line with Smyth coming up with the ball for the try. After this Paul Ireland added a penalty to take the score to 20 - 7. From the resultant kick off, James Benson set off on a strong run where the ball was quickly recycled. McKenzie set off on a strong run and offloaded the ball to a straight running Brian Storey who sliced through the Millom defence to time a perfect pass for Bruce Rigby to score to give Keswick a 25- 7 half time lead.

It is a well worn cliche, but this was a game of two halves as Millom now had the wind advantage and made good use of it. Although Keswick defended well and continued to attack the Millom line, the odd mistake and questionable refereeing decision meant a 70 metre loss in territory. Millom came right back in to the game with an unconverted try from close interplay near the line followed by a catch and drive move for a converted try taking the score to 25 - 19 still in Keswick's favour. Millom are well known for not giving in and continued to press but Keswick showed inner steel and tackled and ran hard at the opposition and on two occasions were stopped just short of the line. Relief came to the coach, squad and supporters when close to the end Keswick earned a winning bonus for the fifth try with an excellent catch and drive from Aaron Thomson for a well deserved score. Paul Ireland converted for a final score of 32 - 19.

Millom is never an easy place to win at. The Keswick team played well in parts but know there is improvement to come. The team avoided a potential banana skin for a difficult first fixture and can now move on confidently to the first home league match next week against Carlisle.