Trafford 17 Keswick 25

Having won away the previous week, Keswick RFC 1st XV were in confident mood as they faced Trafford MV away last Saturday. Only 2 places below Keswick in the league, they had proved tough opposition at home in December, with Keswick running out winners 15-10. On a wet pitch turning to mud, the morning rain had stopped and the conditions promised the opportunity for good attacking rugby and so it proved.

Trafford kicked off and Keswick immediately gained the game’s first penalty as the receiver was taken out in the air. From the kick to touch line-out Keswick ran the ball through the backs but an interception by Trafford saw play move into the Keswick 22 before a clearing kick to touch on the Keswick 10 metre line. From the line-out Trafford quickly gave the ball to their centres and a missed tackle allowed them to score a converted try under the posts, 7-0 after 3 minutes. Keswick’s scrum dominance, a feature of much of the season, was soon in evidence as Trafford were pushed back in the first scrum on their own put-in. This set piece dominance remained throughout the game and a regularly retreating Trafford scrum were fortunate not to be penalised on the more than one occasion that their scrum broke up. Credit is due to the usually un-lauded front 5 for their excellent scrummaging.

The slow start by Keswick was not helped by some handling errors and clearing kicks which gave possession back to the opposition when driving play by the forwards to allow the backs a run might have been a better option. Only once in the first 10 minutes did Keswick get into the Trafford half of the pitch and that was from a clearing kick. Despite another retreating scrum on their put-in on the Keswick 10 metre line, Trafford again used their centres, whose interplay allowed them to break the Keswick defence for a second converted try, 14-0 after only 15 minutes. The travelling Keswick supporters were not very confident at this stage as, apart from the scrums, Trafford were dominating the game.

The spectre of defeat seemed to galvanise Keswick though, as they attacked immediately from the re-start to win a penalty on the Trafford 5 metre line, at which they opted for a scrum. For once unable to shift the home pack, Keswick ran the ball wide only to be stopped by a well prepared defence. However, they had been caught offside giving another opportunity to attack. This time Keswick opted to kick for the right hand corner where they won the line-out and created a maul which allowed Michael Tait to cross for an unconverted try, 14-5 on 21 minutes. From the re-start Keswick attacked again, driving Trafford off the ball in the next scrum to run the ball through the backs, only to lose it in the tackle. Good possession won by the forwards was more than once lost by the backs through handling errors, taking the pressure off the home side and allowing them to clear. On 37 minutes Trafford won a penalty on the Keswick 10 metre line, centre field, for not releasing and converted the kick for a 17-5 half time lead.

The story of the first half was of Keswick dominance in the scrums, equality at the break down and line-outs and Trafford dominance in the backs. It was going to take a major change in tactics for Keswick to turn the game around and that change was evident as soon as Keswick kicked off. The kick return by Trafford was fielded by Andy Wallace at fullback, who ran upfield to the right before passing to George Holme who made progress and passed to Ryan Weir who ran 40 metres upfield before passing to Jamie MacKenzie. His final pass back to Holme saw him cross the line for another unconverted try with less than 2 minutes of the half gone, 17-10.

Further attacking play won a penalty on the Trafford 10 metre line for a high tackle, followed shortly by another penalty against them, just 2 of the 17 penalties Trafford gave away in the second half. Driving play by the Keswick scrum kept Trafford on the back foot, giving space for backs to run the ball, but a penalty for not releasing allowed Trafford back into the Keswick half after a long period in theirs. A pattern of play by Keswick was emerging, keeping the ball in hand, attacking round the fringes of the breakdown through the forwards before passing the ball to the backs whose straighter running lines were ably supported by the wide-ranging back row. One break by James Benson gained a good 25 metres, shrugging off tackles before he was brought to ground.

It was then Keswick’s turn to defend hard as Trafford reached the Keswick 5 metre line and made a number of unsuccessful attacks on the line through their pack as the defence held. Forced to run the ball they knocked on and the pressure was off. It was then Keswick’s turn to camp in the opposition half and a good break on the left and a diving finish allowed Dean Robinson to squeeze in at the corner for a third unconverted try, 17-15 after 23 minutes. Good interplay between forwards and backs kept Trafford in their own half for much of the rest of the game. A Keswick penalty kick at goal from 40 metres out and into wind would have given Keswick the lead, but after 3 unsuccessful conversion attempts this also missed, drifting to the right and falling short. With 3 tries scored and knowing that a fourth would bring a bonus point, win or lose, the Keswick supporters were still hopeful, though with less than 5 minutes left, Keswick had still not been ahead.

Keswick maintained the pressure until a penalty for failing to release gave Trafford another chance to clear to touch. Their subsequent line-out malfunctioned with the ball overthrown to be picked up by Keswick for Robinson, now deputising at scrum half, to exchange passes with Olly Macpherson, on as a replacement, who was able to skirt the right touchline to score the bonus point try with only 3 minutes left. Andy Muir converted to make Keswick almost safe at 17-22 but a bonus point now guaranteed. From the restart Keswick attacked again, demolishing the Trafford scrum and winning a penalty on the 22 for not releasing. Converted by Muir it put Keswick beyond reach at 17-25. An excellent restart kick by Trafford saw them win a penalty then camp on the Keswick line for the last 2 minutes but they were unable to overcome the strong Keswick defence, ensuring 18 unanswered points in the second half and denying Trafford a losing bonus point.

The result sees Keswick stay 5th, 7 points behind Aspatria who are third, with Wigton separating the two. With one game in hand, Aspatria could still win the league but would have to beat Keswick at Davidson Park on Saturday and hope that Keswick can beat the top team, De La Salle, away the following week. With Keswick as the side both teams have to beat there will be an exciting end to the season. It was a close game at Aspatria in December and supporters can look forward to a very competitive match on Saturday, kick off 3pm.