Windermere 25 - Cockermouth 10

LEAGUE positions can be misleading and though Windermere are currently unbeaten and top of the table with Cockermouth in the bottom six, this Cumbria League Trophy second-round match turned out to be a much closer game than the scoreline suggests.

In fact, the result remained in some doubt until midway through the second half when a

late scoring flourish carried Windermere clear.

For much of the first half Cockermouth enjoyed territorial advantage and while in difficulty at the set-pieces, their forwards gained a lot of turnover ball and behind the scrum they had some lively and dangerous runners.

Windermere began badly and spent the opening quarter defending hard in and around their own 22.

It came as no surprise when Cockermouth went ahead after 23 minutes when scrum-half Nicky Gordon wrong-footed the defence to race through for an excellent converted try.

Windermere hit back strongly with their pack pinning the visitors down and forcing errors.

Chris Sansom kicked a penalty and then converted a try scored by Richard Rigg following a tap penalty to give Windermere a half-time lead they hardly deserved.

Cockermouth drew level with a penalty goal at the start of the second half and again exerted heavy pressure. Windermere now began to play with much more determination and method and slowly began to take a grip on the game.

Sansom edged them back in front with a penalty before two fine tries, both sparked off by superb play from flanker Simon Thomas, carried them clear.

The first stemmed from a line-out and featured the entire Windermere back row. Richard Rigg won possession, scrum-half Dan Nield fed Simon Thomas

and his sharp side-step and acceleration swept him through to the full back.

He drew the tackle before moving the ball on to fellow flanker Chris Sansom, who crossed near the posts to leave himself a simple conversion. This score seemed to demoralise the opposition and for the remainder of the game Windermere were completely in charge.

Another score looked inevitable and it came in the closing minutes. Storming play by the pack had Cockermouth back-pedalling and it was Simon Thomas who again applied the finishing touch, this time going all the way himself.

Overall this was a satisfactory performance by the home side, although their slow starting is becoming a cause for concern.

n Windermere 3rds suffered a crushing 50-3 defeat by a strengthened Kendal 3rds in the Westmorland and Furness Trophy.

January 3, 2003 10:00