Keswick 8 Firwood Waterloo 25

Light drizzle welcomed the teams to the pitch when Firwood Waterloo visited Davidson Park for the match against Keswick on Saturday. A smaller crowd of spectators than recently saw Keswick kick off deep and after an exchange of kicks it was Keswick who put in the first attacks but soon found that the Firwood Waterloo pack had the upper hand in the scrums, being penalised at the first one for the front row coming up. Penalties to both sides ended with one to Keswick on the opposition 10 metre line in midfield after a good run by Ryan Weir, and on 6 minutes Keswick took the lead 3-0 as Lewis Bell converted the kick.

The restart kick off was fumbled, giving Firwood Waterloo the put in to a scrum 10 metres from the Keswick try line. Having already shown their scrum superiority the visitors pushed Keswick back but their number 8 knocked forward as he picked up and the next scrum was to Keswick allowing them to clear. The line out gave Keswick problems as an early throw in was not straight, the first of a few where either the ball was not straight or was intercepted. The ensuing scrum and inevitable penalty gave Firwood Waterloo a line out 5 metres from Keswick’s try line. They caught and mauled, aided by some of the backs coming in before the ball carrier broke away and crossed to score an unconverted try for 3-5 on 11 minutes.

At the restart it was the visitors’ turn to knock on and the from the scrum the ball was run right and mauled forward before possession was lost and Firwood Waterloo were tackled into touch on their 22. Failing to release in the tackle as the ball was run from the line out gave Firwood Waterloo the chance to clear and another exchange of kicks ended with a line out on the Keswick 10 metre line. A good run by Firwood Waterloo ended as the final pass went astray and play was brought back for a penalty. Gaining a scrum further forward the visitors picked and drove, putting together a number of such phases before crossing for their second unconverted try on 22 minutes.

With the Firwood Waterloo front row causing problems in the scrum they took advantage when they could and another penalty kick to the corner was mauled and driven round the corners before being run left where an overlap allowed the winger to cross on 27 minutes for an unconverted try, 3-15. Another exchange of kicks from the restart was won by Firwood Waterloo who scored their bonus point try only 3 minutes later. Their kicker was having an off day as he missed again, but with their scrum dominance and the misfiring Keswick line out it seemed that a serious defeat was a strong possibility.

However, the Keswick players had other ideas and the defence picked up, stopping another good drive to the line by Firwood Waterloo and successfully defending a 5 metre scrum before the half time whistle was blown with the score at 3-20.

A good start to the second half by Keswick ended with a knock forward and a scrum to the visitors but this time the penalty they gained was for not rolling away at the tackle. Their attempt to maul from the line out was defeated by good tackling and they tried their previously successful tactic of driving round the corners but this was unsuccessful and ended with their put in to the scrum 5 metres out. This time their number 8 picked and drove from the back, to score their 5th try on 45 minutes for 3-25. This was to be their last score of the game and with a front row change on both sides Firwood Waterloo began to lose their scrum dominance.

Keswick began to turn over the ball at the breakdown and put in some good attacks, one by Weir, well supported by Harry Vaillant, ended with the ball going forward and a Firwood Waterloo scrum which they used to clear. A high tackle penalty got the visitors back into the home 22 but again good defence saw Keswick win possession and clear. Winning a scrum penalty for the first time got Keswick back into the attack but another not straight in the line out lost possession. On 68 minutes Keswick found themselves defending another 5 metre line out which was caught and driven but held up over the line for a 5 metre scrum. Firwood Waterloo ran the ball this time and crossed again, but were held up once more for another scrum. Good tackling stopped any more progress but an offside gave the visitors a penalty centre field on 25 meters. With their place kicker off form they kicked to the corner for a line out but were once again stopped and George Holme put in a good clearing kick. An unnecessary quick throw in by Firwood Waterloo on their own 10 metre line was kicked through and caught by Weir inside the Keswick 10 metre line. He ran down the right hand touch, evading 3 tackles before touching down in the corner for an unconverted try on 75 minutes for 8-25.

The final scrum of the game on the Firwood Waterloo 22 had Keswick pushing the visitors off the ball on their own put in to run the ball right but cold hands meant the ball was dropped and the game ended. Keswick’s second half performance in most games this season has outperformed their first half and this match was no exception. Despite losing the first half by 17 points they managed to draw the second half, with one unconverted try to each side. Saturday will see the First XV travel to table topping Wilmslow for what is likely to be the stiffest test of the season.