There were celebrations as Nathan Askew won the second match of the series for the Uppies following his Good Friday victory.

The epic five-hour game had everything and it seemed like it could have gone either way at times with dummy runs, big throws and plenty of time in the beck.

But ultimately the game went up for a long time and Nathan, of Ashfield, finally hailed the ball for a second time this series.

He said: "I'm playing again on Saturday and going for the third.

"I smuggled it up my top again and ran with it, I had a few young lads with me."

Hundreds of people gathered at the Cloffocks in Workington for round two of the 2018 Uppies and Downies series.

The ball was thrown off by Robert Daglish and went straight in the beck before the scrum moved slowly towards the leisure centre.

It was fairly small scrum to begin with and players were evidently not too keen on getting their feet wet.

The Uppies tried to force the scrum up the beck's bank but there was a big break and it ended up on the black path.

The ball then made its away across the beck and next to leisure centre’s five-a-side pitches before the scrum got stuck by some trees on the black path.

The Uppies tried to tip the scrum back into the beck while the Downies had the ball on the right side but were pushed back.

There was bit of to and fro as the Downies forced the ball back towards the trees but the Uppies immediately put a stop to that. The ball popped out of the scrum and caused a scramble but it was quickly scooped up and back into the pile of bodies.

There was a massive break as the ball was thrown, passed through a few sets of hands and the Uppies got it much closer to the leisure centre. Downies managed to halt them by the five-a-side pitches but that was nearly the Uppies away.

There was a good run until the player with the ball stumbled and was caught in the scrum.

The ball popped up out of the scrum and through a few pairs of hands and there was an almighty scramble as the Uppies looked to have a break on but it was stifled by the Downies next to the five-a-side pitches.

The ball was chucked in the beck and someone took a face full of dirty water but then a huge throw sent the scrum tumbling back across the car park.

Both teams made small gains but were then pegged back quickly.

After a series of throws the scrum reformed on the grass between the leisure centre and the overflow car park.

The scrum crawled across the car park and someone tried to distract the players by throwing a football into the mix but nobody fell for it.

Uppies then made steady progress towards the bingo but the Downies stood strong and tried to send the ball back in the direction of the leisure centre.

The ball wriggled out and somebody tried to throw it towards Allerdale House but it didn't get very far and the Uppies were back on the march.

Downies bundled the scrum back a bit but the ball came free and was sent spinning back towards the bingo again.

Downies piled on to push the scrum back and try to keep the Uppies at bay.

The ball bobbled on top of the scrum and the Uppies managed to juggle it into the tunnel. The game then headed into town with loud chants of 'up, up, up' as they sensed victory but it was not over yet.

The scrum was then wedged up against the wall inside the tunnel as the Downies try to stem the tide.

The ball was almost in town as the Uppies pushed forward in numbers as they tried to kill the game off but the Downies ground the game to a halt.

Downies knew they needed to swing the momentum back in their favour. They did some impressive defending but more Uppies piled on which made things harder for them.

The ball swung closer to town, then further away as the two sides wrestled.

Downies then had the ball back towards the tunnel opening but it was still out in the open.

Downies got a second wind and battered their way back to the tunnel opening but the scrum was up against a wall and going nowhere fast.

The lull in action seemed to do the Downies some good as they surged back through the tunnel.

There was a mammoth effort from the Uppies to steam back through the tunnel and the scrum was back outside, near Dominos, with the ball buried in a mass of sweaty, tired-looking players.

The ball was bouncing back and forth but not moving very far in either direction. Uppies turned the screw but the Downies stood firm.

The Downies didn't give up and had the ball back in the tunnel but every small bit of progress they made was cancelled out immediately.

It looked like the Downies could get the ball away but it was plucked out of the air and hastily stuffed back into the scrum.

Uppies and Downies were still trading blows and trying to find a way through but neither side gave an inch.

There was a massive surge down then and it looked like the Downies had finally got a break but a big throw up had the scrum back on the move.

It all went a bit flat but two big throws — one down then one up — got a bit of a buzz going again.

The Downies rallied to force the play back into the tunnel and the scrum was then parked somewhere in the middle.

There was a big cheer from the crowd as the lamppost over the scrum lit up.

What an effort from the Downies as they reversed the Uppies’ drive and the scrum parked in the middle of the tunnel, creeping back towards the bingo.

The ball was smuggled out of the pack and catapulted down the tunnel as the Uppies got the action back towards town.

The Uppies sneaked the ball out and the culprit was almost away but the Downies smothered him and put the brakes on.

The slope out of the tunnel worked against the Uppies. They could not build up enough of a head of steam to get all the way into town so the Downies easily pressed them back.

The atmosphere then died down a bit and the crowd in the tunnel behind the scrum thinned out but there was drama at last as a crafty run caused a panic and dozens of people spilled back down the tunnel thinking the Downies had got it away.

A runner then appeared dipping and dodging through the crowd into town and it appeared the ball was finally going up.

The crowd moved quickly through the town centre, past the Hub and the shops, heading towards Workington Hall but there were no cries of Up.

There was then talk that the Downies had tricked them and the ball had actually gone down.

There was a big crowd by the beck in front of the leisure centre but nobody seemed to know if the ball was in there or not until it was spotted in the beck.

The catcher was dragged to the ground and the game was suddenly wide open again.

Someone wriggled out of the pack and sped off and took a few of the crowd with him, but the ball sailed in the opposite direction and the scrum wasn't fooled by the dummy run.

The ball was in the beck for a while but the scrum broke up and went scampering up the bank, off towards the leisure centre.

More and more dummy runs started to happen as people made the most of the darkness to spread confusion.

The scrum went a bit flat for a while until the ball was spotted back in the beck. There was mass panic and people running in different directions screaming.

The ball seemed to have gone until it was seen in the beck. It came back out again and the scrum wound up back on the car park.

The ball was again back in the beck before there was a breakthrough for the Uppies and the ball was run down the side of the cricket club.

The scrum then moved back in the beck but was much closer to Workington Hall than it was.

An Uppie emerged from the beck with the ball, everyone turned to watch and he flung it. It didn't get them very far though and the scrum is still stuck in the water.

Chants of Up were heard as the Uppies thought they were on their way to a win.

The Downies tried to divert the scrum and get the ball into the cricket ground, but the Uppies were not making it easy and the scrum was still moving slowly up.

The scrum was stuck by the cricket ground wall. The Uppies were so close to hailing the ball but there was no sign of it surfacing from the pile of players.

The Uppies managed to edge the pack towards the Hall but the Downies were still putting up a fight.

The ball then made its way to the police station and the scrum moved steadily up, past the station and some chants of Up broke out.

The scrum then bounded away down the beck and were halted by a Downie sat on the ball in the beck. The Uppies tried to shift him.

There were shouts that the ball was gone but the scrum didn't break up. The ball appeared and there was a big wrestling match but the ball didn't make it away.

The scrum swept across the car park and was almost out but the Downies were trying to take it back into the beck to escape to the river.

The ball moved past the allotments behind Hall Park View. Movement was slow as the Downies occasionally gained a few more yards.

The Downies dragged the scrum away from Workington Hall down the black path, back towards the cricket ground and the scrum was stuck in the far corner of the ground, close to the leisure centre.

Somebody dribbled away with the ball and the scrum came clattering down in the mud and water on the field, and the ball was gone.

People scattered everywhere searching for the ball and no one seemed to know whether it had gone up or down.

It then emerged that the ball had been hailed up and the series had been won by the Uppies.