WINDERMERE eased through into the third round of the Powergen Junior Vase with a good deal to spare at Dawes Meadow on Saturday, yet this was not one of their better performances.

There were too many mistakes and ball retention was erratic, while the shaky handling of the backs caused many chances to go begging.

Having said that, the result was never in doubt for while the Chorley forwards gained a lot of possession, the Windermere line was rarely threatened.

If the opposition had been stronger, Windermere would probably have raised their game for they had some dangerous runners and they did score some excellent tries.

A first-half injury to Jeremy Wood caused Windermere to reshuffle their back line, but they were still too good for Chorley and the score could well have been considerably higher.

Rick Musetti, Mike Gregg and busy flanker Danny Blenkharn were the pick of the forwards, while behind the scrum, Jonothan Cooper, James Nield, Jason Balmer and late substitution Steve Norton had too much pace and penetration for the overworked Chorley defence.

Jason Balmer linked well from full-back to surge through for Windermere's opening try and then Jeremy Wood finished off some excellent passing for the second score.

Chorley enjoyed their best spell after these two scores, but good play by the home pack paved the way for a try from Rick Musetti and Jon Cooper's conversion gave Windermere a 17-nil lead at the break.

Play became increasingly one-sided in the second half and there was nothing Chorley could do to stem the tide. Jonothan Cooper dummied his way over for the next try, adding another later, while James Nield raced over in the corner for the final score.

Cooper landed three conversions to bring his personal points tally to 16 points.

n MORESBY gave Ambleside RUFC their first friendly match on Saturday since dropping out of the league as local clubs rally round to keep the club going as a competitive entity.

Despite a 12-0 defeat Ambleside played well and the pack often shunted their counterparts backwards, although the backs tended to be smothered once the ball was moved out.

Some of Windermere's second team joined Ambleside's ranks to help them raise a side. Ambleside are hosts to Greengarth this Saturday (2.30pm kick-off), and any players interested in a game are welcome.