COMFORTABLY beaten in the end, Kirkby Lonsdale put up a spirited effort in the opening 40 minutes against the North Lancs/Cumbria leaders, especially considering their long injury-list.

A reorganised Kirkby front row competed well and the pack scrummaged well to take three against the head.

After mounting good pressure the visitors also scored the only try of the first half, a backs move opening the way for Robert Horsfall to race onto an inside pass 25 metres out and go over with Barton converting for a 7-3 half-time lead.

But even before the interval, the writing was on the wall that the bigger, heavier Wigton forwards would be difficult to keep out for the full duration and so it proved in the second half.

Inside centre Simon Dowker became the latest injury victim when he went off with two dislocated fingers, although fortunately an orthopaedic surgeon was on hand on the touchline to reset them straight away.

Back on the field Wigton had begun to identify the weakness in the back line and they exploited the holes to score to score five tries and seal the win.

Skipper James Hadwin was the man of the match and put in some telling big tackles, while young James Law did well coming in at tight-head prop.

Kirkby coach Drew Anderson said: "There was a general uplift in the side this week and the Kirkby players should not beat themselves up about being beaten by bigger, faster opponents as that will happen at this level."

n Two South African coaches, one of them from Natal Sharks, will be visiting Kirkby in November under an existing exchange scheme.

n Three Kirkby Under-16s, Shaun Connor, Mark Anderson and Tom Pickthall were members of the Cumbria U16 team which beat Northumbria 33-19 at the weekend.