Rugby Union

Published at 11:07, Thursday, 08 March 2012

EGREMONT should have done just enough to stay in North Lancs Cumbria next season, even though they were on the receiving end of their heaviest defeat at this level.

They were crushed 73-0 at Upper Eden but stayed 15 points better off than De La Salle, who are in the last relegation place. Millom and Furness are already down.

Egremont had travelled to Upper Eden with several first choice players unavailable for one reason or another but the team tried hard to adapt even though some were playing out of position.

They had to re-organise again when full-back Anthony Armstrong went off injured after five minutes play whilst attempting to stop Upper Eden from scoring their first try.

Egremont could not cope with the speed of the opposition attack and consequently Upper Eden ran in 11 tries altogether, nine of which were converted.

The Egremont pack played well in patches, occasionally driving mauls forward to gain ground, but they were unable to break through the opposition defence.

Craig Peet at scrum-half and Graham Temple, moved from flanker into the centre, worked hard to shore up the defence but it was to no avail as Upper Eden were quicker to the breakdown and the bounce of the ball seemed to favour them as they stormed towards the Egremont try-line.

The closest Egremont came to scoring was when Xander Bainbridge caught a kick ahead in his own twenty-two and counter attacked, beating several defenders before finding Graham Temple in support. He made ground into the Upper Eden twenty-two, backed up by Neil Richardson, who was just tackled 10 yards short of the try-line.

A dramatic last-minute try guaranteed another season in North Lancs Cumbria for Workington as they scraped by 18–15 against a valiant and very competitive Heaton Moor.

CREIGHTON have opted out of the new Cumbria League Cup competition and will wind down their season after playing their one outstanding league game with St Benedict’s.

They won 29-12 win at Aspatria Eagles on Saturday, confirming a fifth-place finish.

However, with fourth-placed Netherhall also considering their commitment to the cup, the group made-up of the top five league finishers, would appear to be down to only three.

Creighton are losing a number of players and have decided to re-group and prepare for next season’s planned revamp to the league structure.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk