After a lacklustre performance to begin the season against Aspatria, Carlisle have been putting a few good performances in , away to Hawcoat Park, then a thumping win at home against Egremont, so it was interesting to see how they'd perform against Cockermouth.

The home side made a strong start to the game after 6mins, winning a lineout 10m out, then driving across the park, with forwards executing a number of pick and gos near the line. It was left to Alex Palmer to drive over near the posts for the first Carlisle score. Lewis Tingey made no mistake with the conversion.
Cockermouth were determined they were not going to be easy pushovers though, and pegged Carlisle back in their half as they tried to find a way through. That they did as they turned over ball on their own 22, spread it wide left across the park, and a break down the wing, and offload to a supporting player saw them through the Carlisle defence to reduce the deficit to just a couple of points at 7-5. Carlisle's coaching team will be looking carefully at how easy Cockermouth made that look.

Order was restored a few minutes later, as a bout of kick tennis between the sides, eventually resulted in Cockermouth punting the ball into the arms of full back Tingey. Collecting near the Carlisle 10m line, he then found multiple gaps in the Cockermouth defence as he jinked his way through them, and left the final cover sprawling to dot under the posts, Lung converting.

A few minutes later, the home side had their third, as a break from a scrum gave them field position near Cockermouth's 22. A speculative crossfield kick from new fly half Calum Anderson didn't find winger Ethan Thomson, as he failed to appreciate he is only 5'3" not 6'3", but he made amends later by putting the ball in the corner for a lineout, which Carlisle drove right to the try line, strangely unopposed by the visitors until it was too late, with Lloyd Clark diving through and bagging his first try of the day.
The half ended a few minutes later, with Carlisle in a strong position at 21-5 up.

The second half started with Carlisle pressing the visitors defence for any gaps to exploit. Cockermouth tried to kick out to relieve the pressure but ultimately were thwarted when a quick lineout caught them off-guard and struggling to reorganise their defence. Defending their line, Cockermouth committed a couple of penalties, whilst Carlisle were probing for a space to get over the try line. Eventually Tom Gibson managed it, securing the bonus point, Tingey again converting for a 28-5 lead.
It didn't feel home and dry though, and it felt like Cockermouth might yet narrow the gap. And so they did a few moments later as Carlisle lost possession pressing forward inside the visitors 22. As they forged down the left wing, they were halted only for them to recycle quickly wide right, and their winger beat a few Carlisle defenders to race 50m, scoring their second try, converted this time to make it 28-12.

Carlisle soon though snuffed out any thought of a comeback. pressing the visitors defence hard, a lineout deep in Cockermouths 22, was worked across the park. With the forwards trying to find a gap, through some pick and gos, the Cockermouth defence was sucked into defending tightly on their line on the left, and the ball was then recycled wide right for centre Jonathan Park to swan dive over on the right for the fifth try, putting the result beyond reasonable doubt with 15 minutes to go, at 35-12
The rest of the scores from Clark, Callaghan, and a rampaging run from Captain Alfie Batty at the end, were simply icing on the cake, as Cockermouth flagged, and Carlisle triumphed 56-12.

This was a good performance against good opposition, who certainly knew how to test the home defence. Ultimately though, Carlisle have a lot of young legs out on the park, and fitness was a big difference, as the opposition began to flag in the second period of the second half. There's a lot to like about Carlisle's style of play at the minute, though there were some defensive issues Cockermouth exploited that the coaches will want to address in training. Nevertheless it was a good win at home,8 tries, all converted, the crowd were entertained, 5 points, and finishing top of the table was a just reward for the effort today.

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Next week we face a tougher assignment at Low moor road, away to Wigton, where we face another former Carlisle player turned coach, Matt Charters. On today's effort, I think we'll be relishing the challenge.