Seaton Rangers were made to dig deep against a spirited Maryport side before eventually lifting the U14 BARLA County Cup Final at Derwent Park, Workington, by 30-14.

The game was a very tight affair throughout with only six points separating the two sides going into the final five minutes before Seaton pulled away to secure the win.

Good defences in the first period was the reason the score at the break was only 4-4.

Rangers were the first to break the deadlock on 14 minutes with full back Scott Williamson joining the line to crash over in the corner, 4-0.

The lead was short lived as Maryport came right back when Seaton botched the restart kick-off and let Maryport gather the ball back.

Three plays on centre Ally Shaw-Hughes gathered the ball, put in a great chip through and finished it off by being the first to the ball for the touchdown, 4-4.

The Port put great pressure on the Seaton defensive line in the opening five minutes of the second half, but they held firm and left no cracks for any Maryport attacker to slip through.

Seaton again playing out of defence edged in front on seven minutes when second rower James Dowling managed to break through the stubborn Maryport defensive line and go over near to the corner flag, 8-4 to Seaton.

A great individual try from Seaton’s other second rower Jonathan Dodd five minutes later put a little daylight between the scores, the No12 out pacing the chasers in a 50-metre race to the line.

And when scrum half Ciaran Walker added the extras, Seaton were 14-4 ahead.

Back came Maryport on 16 minutes, scrum-half Liam Anderson throwing a great dummy to create the gap for himself to finish by the uprights, stand-off Olly Bibby banged over the conversion to pull the score back to 14-10.

Seaton were 20-10 in front minutes later as stand-off Ben Postlethwaite raced in from 30-metres out for a touchdown in the corner, Walker landed a great touchline conversion to make the four into a six.

But Maryport would still not give up and reduced the score line to 20-14 going into the final five minutes of the game with loose forward Matty Hall crossing for the try.

The Rangers finally ending Maryport’s resistance in the final minutes of the game as both Williamson and Dowling crossed for their second tries of the game, one being converted by Walker, to give a final score of Seaton 30, Maryport 14.

Seaton second rower James Dowling deservedly picked up the man-of-the-match award.

Maryport: Luke Cremins, Daniel Little, Ally Shaw-Hughes, Jack Shepherd, Fin McCartney, Olly Bibby, Liam Anderson, Danny Heany, Owen Burton, Chris Ivison, Olly Scott, Brodie Lightfoot, Matty Hall. Subs: Matty Heaney, Nathan Berwick, Attlee Jack Skillen, Adam Lambert.

Seaton Rangers: Scott Williamson, Denver Cargo, Owen Durham, Jackson Traverse, Cameron Hendren, Ben Postlethwiate, Ciaran Walker, Jay Roach, Ellis Thompson, Kian Brown, James Dowling, Jonathan Dodd, Ciaran Poultney. Inter changes: Jack Swinburne, Ryan Graham, Ace Wedgewood, Logan Kilgour.

Kells U12s carried their unbeaten run on and collect their second piece of silverware of the season on Sunday in the final of the BARLA County Cup.

They had a very convincing 54-4 win over a combined Barrow Island/Walney U12s side played at Roose ARLFC.

The game as a contest was virtually over by the half time whistle with Kells leading by 30-4.

Two Sam Fulton tries, plus one apiece from Billy Murray, Sam Murtagh and Leo Brennan, to which Harley Nelson added five goals, contributed to the Kells scoreline.

It did not get any easier for the Barrow based side in the second period as Kells pressed on and score a further 24 unanswered points.

Fulton crossed to complete his hat-trick, while Murtagh went one further crossing for three touchdowns to add to the four pointer he picked up in the first period.

With Nelson in great form with the boot, landing all four goal attempts, Kells had undoubtedly secured the BARLA County Cup in style with a great team effort.

Kells centre Sam Murtagh was presented with the man-of-the-match award for his four tries, by Barrow Raiders coach Paul Crarey.

Kells: Keelan Parr, Jack Murray, Sam Murtagh, Leo Brennan, Jay Taylor, Harley Nelson, Jamie Scott, Harvey Smith, Kyle Anderson, Sam Fulton, Dylan Grears, Keane Martin, Billy Murray. Subs: Nathaniel Anderson, Shane Nicholson, James Stanaway.

In the U16 fixtures scheduled, Kells made the journey down the coast to Barrow to take on Dalton in the BARLA County Cup Final.

But could not emulate their younger U12s side, for they were on the wrong end of a 34-6 scoreline.

In the Hensingham v Barrow Island league game, Barrow Island conceded the fixture awarding the points to Hensingham.

Friday fixture

U12 Top Five play-off: Hensingham v Seaton Rangers, ko 5.45pm