Morpeth return home from the Lakes empty handed after losing to Keswick

It was Morpeth who made a promising start, with second row Ben Jackson making a number of storming runs that forced the home side to concede a penalty that Jake McKay converted despite the difficult wind.

That was as good as it got for the visitors as Keswick, and in particular fly half Joe Allday, took control.

On six minutes Allday made use of the strong wind with a towering kick that the Morpeth defence failed to deal with. A fortuitous bounce followed by an excellent chase saw centre Oli Clark dive over by the posts for a converted score.

A few minutes later, Allday was on the mark again with two further efforts. One, when another super kick from hand caused further chaos, before an excellent penalty when Morpeth coughed up possession on or around the halfway line.

After a good start the visitors had found themselves 13-3 down on 13 minutes. In addition, Elliott Clark, who had looked lively, was beginning to struggle after a heavy knock.

The score remained the same until half time as Morpeth recovered their composure. Indeed, on 30 minutes only poor handling robbed the visitors of a try-scoring opportunity. During that period the home side had begun to concede penalties, enabling Morpeth back into the game, with young scrum half Tom Dungait leading the way, always prompting and winning ball on the floor.

Despite the elements favouring Morpeth, the second half began with Keswick on top. Some poor first time Morpeth tackling allowed the home side attacking platforms.

It was no surprise when they deservedly extended the lead when from an attacking lineout recycled possession saw a converted try by the posts on 50 minutes.

Just when it seemed the game had slipped away from the visitors, Morpeth scored a very good try when, for the first time, they threatened wide out.

A super McKay break saw him offload to winger Nathan Arkle, who scorched over in the corner. McKay then kicked a superb conversion. 20-10 on 52 minutes.

A few minutes later Morpeth pressed again. A good position around the Keswick 22 saw an attacking lineout, with both Carl Hill and Josh Williams combining before becoming isolated. The subsequent sin binning of Williams saw Morpeth’s momentum grind to a halt.

On 78 minutes Allday increased Keswick’s lead with another penalty, before Morpeth camped on the home line and prop Theo Gavaghan buried over in the last play.

Unfortunately McKay missed the final conversion attempt that would have given Morpeth a point they probably deserved, albeit they could not have any complaints at the result.

Keswick were the better team on the day and ran out deserved 23-15 winners.