Aspatria played a full part in an excellent game of fast flowing rugby, sparked into life by 3 tries in the first 10 minutes. The Black Reds held the lead for most of the game but at the death could not hang on. In a bitter twist a score was conceded in injury time to present Broughton Park with a 29:24 win that they could not have expected going into the final few minutes of the match.
This game was originally scheduled for January but fell foul of the mini ice age that hit Cumbria at the time. The postponement turned out to be a benefit as the game could now be played on a day perfect for running rugby. Aspatria made a positive start and immediately took the game to Broughton Park. Centres, Heinie Jonker and Steven Douglas used early opportunities to probe the visitors defence. This early enterprise crashed up against an unrelenting defence and the bank holiday crowd were right to sense that a good contest was about to unfold.
First blood went to the visitors, against the run of play. Aspatria had attacked from the first whistle but after 6 minutes of relentless pressure a mistake on the halfway line allowed Broughton Park an opportunity to recover the ball and initiate their first attack of the game. The Park forwards fed the ball out to the wing who wrong footed several defenders for a fine individual score. The conversion was missed but Park were 0:5 ahead.
The Aspatria response was immediate. The Black Red’s forwards recovered the ball from the restart through some excellent work by back rower Mark Beverley. Jack Clegg at scrum half launched his back line, first left then right to stretch the visitors defence. The ball reached centre Douglas 10 meters from the try line and he still had plenty of work to do to evade his opposite number and the full back to score under the sticks. The conversion was a formality for Steven Stoddart and the Black Reds held the lead.7:5.
From the restart Aspatria went back on the offensive and immediately stretched their lead with a try that was a reward for extra effort put in by second row, Dickie Miller. Play was near the Broughton Park line but they seemed to have the situation well under control; as the full back shaped for a clearing kick Miller threw himself at the kicker and tipped the ball into the air. Clegg was on hand to field the ball and slide a pass out to No8 Mark Bowe who crashed over the line to score. Stoddart converted to sent the home side 14:5 in front.
The Manchester visitors seemed shell shocked by the early exchanges and it took them some time to regain their composure. When they did the game began to see-saw and was a delight for the neutral spectator. On 16 minutes the Aspatria lead was pegged back by a penalty and shortened even further 3 minutes later by an unconverted try. The score was not without controversy. Park‘s forwards had rolled a maul to within inches of the Aspatria line where it collapsed. Park recycled the ball and in a melee of players lying in every direction, claimed the touch down. Aspatria felt they had hands under the ball but the referee who was well placed saw some contact with the line and awarded the score. The gap had now narrowed to 14:13.
14:13 would be the half time score but Aspatria know they should have been further ahead. On 24 minutes the home side spurned an easy penalty attempt to drive the ball into the corner. From the line out the ball was slung along the back line in successive waves of attack. When Park had finally run out of defenders a score should have resulted but instead of using the obvious option of a wide pass, Aspatria tried to muscle the ball over the line and failed. Even as the half faded away Stoddart had an opportunity to stretch the interval advantage with a drop goal but his attempt narrowly missed the upright.
As soon as the second half started, home fans were back in familiar territory. Many times this season they have seen the Black Reds in contention after 40 minutes and then collapse. This looked as if it might happen again as Park started the half in style and within 60 seconds had the lead courtesy of a penalty. Thankfully for the long suffering Bower Park faithful this was not going to be another capitulation. The home forwards driven on by Mark Beverley and Mark Bowe stormed back at their opponents. With good field position gained it was over to the back line. On 47 minutes full back, Ken Bowes put genuine pace into a fine backs move that ended with Steven Douglas crossing the line for his second score of the day. The Black Reds were now 21:16 to the good and daring to look forward to only their second win of the season.
Broughton Park edged themselves a little closer with a 50 minute penalty but as the minutes ticked by looked less and less likely to get their noses in front. Aspatria continued to play with flair and over the next 20 minutes should have put the game beyond reach. Again, almost certain scores went begging as a result of poor decision making at critical points. The only reward for this sustained period of attack was a Stoddart penalty on 63 minutes, improving the home sides advantage to 24:19.
With only 12 minutes of the game remaining a home win looked the favourite outcome. Then nerves took over. Outstanding forward, Mark Beverley was sent to the bin as the referee deemed he had deliberately slowed the ball down at a ruck. The loss of Beverley gave Park a sniff of hope and they launched a series of attacks on the Aspatria whitewash. The home side defended resolutely and Park knew it would take something special to break the line. The score when it came was special but again controversial. A well executed chip and chase saw a Broughton Park attacker racing into the dead ball area hounded by two Aspatria defenders. Who got finger tips to the ball first was highly debatable and the referee did not appear well placed to judge. The attacking side got the benefit of any doubt and the game was tied 24 all.
A draw would have been accepted by both sides but then a moment that stunned the Bower Park faithful. Well into injury time the home side were near their own line but in control of the ball. Instead of clearing to touch, Aspatria tried to launch a last ditch attack but came unstuck when the Park winger intercepted the pass and stepped over the line to score and win the game 24:29.
Aspatria have had a difficult season but should take heart from this performance. Despite only 1 win from 24 attempts they once again showed that with a fully fit squad they can compete at this level.
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