Workington 29 -Kirkby Lonsdale 5.

KIRKBY lacked seven of last week's team for this Cumbria Cup match, for which the weather was much better than forecast, leaving the pitch in good order.

Delayed on their journey north, Kirkby took to the pitch without a warm-up. Despite this fact, the early exchanges were even, but then a slip and a fumble gave Dougherty a chance to gather for Workington and score a soft try near the posts.

Amazingly, Harper's conversion attempt missed its target.

Kirkby looked as if they would get back into the match when awarded a kickable penalty, but this went wide and the gap remained at five points.

With a scratch side, Kirkby had difficulty in putting together any moves and seemed short of confidence.

Towards the end of the first half, a scrum near the Kirkby 22 looked to have been wheeled more than 90 degrees and as Kirkby relaxed, Bowe picked up for a simple run-in under the posts. This time Harper made no mistake and Workington led 12-0 at half time.

Kirkby showed more determination in the second half and moved the ball out to Squires, who made good ground before chipping over the full back and re-gathering to score an unconverted try in the corner.

Kirkby's fortunes looked set to rise but a kick found touch on the visitors' 22 and they lost the lineout. In the best move of the match, the ball was moved quickly across the Workington backs to left wing Montgomery, who touched down in the corner for another five points.

Though the Kirkby pack had competed well against a bigger set of forwards, the Workington pack maintained pressure on the tryline and mauled their way over for a try near the posts.

Harper converted and a 24-5 lead looked a winning margin.

This looked as if it would be the final score but after a period of broken play, McLure gathered the ball and showed startling speed down the wing to score in the right corner to bring the final tally to 29-5.

It is to be hoped Kirkby are at more like full strength for Saturday's league match with old rivals Windermere.

n The Wanderers travelled to Sedgley Park and registered another good win by 22-10 to continue to lead the Merit League.