Its been a couple of years since Carlisle and Wigton faced up to each other, and derby days, though often eagerly anticipated, sometimes never quite match expectations. This was a tense affair as both sides were keen not to lose, and defensive structures meant a lot of the play was in the middle two thirds of the park.

Wigton started well, and within a minute fullback Greg Smith had an easy 3 points on the board as Carlisle infringed at the breakdown in front of the posts.
It didn't take too long though for Carlisle to even things up, when Wigton strayed offside as Carlisle were putting the visitors under pressure on their 22m. Fly half Jason Israel made no mistake with the penalty to level the scores at 3-3.
Neither side looked like they were able to break the gainline as they continued to probe each others defences, looking for gaps, without much success. Both sides were guilty of handling errors with a greasy ball, as rain threatened the match.

On the 15min mark the pacemakers amongst the home support were severely tested as Wigton's Mark Deans hared down the pitch after an interception as Carlisle pressed forward. However there is a reason he plays second row and not on the wing, and fortunately enough Carlisle backs caught him before he could sniff the try line, and were able to slow things up to clear the threat from the opposition.The only real opportunity for further points in the half was given to Wigton's Greg Smith from a penalty out on the left, but the ball rattled off the right hand post and Carlisle were able to clear their lines relatively easily. As the half ended at 3-3 it was clear that this was not going to end up as a high scoring try-fest.

It was Carlisle though that then gripped the match by the scruff of the neck in the second half. An inital period of Carlisle pressure resulted in a Carlisle scrum short of Wigton's 22m. Although both packs had been relatively even in the first half, it was Wigton that conceded the first scrum penalty as their front row popped up, leaving Israel the easy task of putting Carlisle in the lead.
Israel then had a speculative attempt at another penalty on 47mins from 40m out in front of the posts, and was unlucky as the ball dropped inches short of the crossbar.
The Wigton side were being put under some pressure in the first period of the second half, with the Carlisle forwards beginning to dominate a tiring Wigton pack, and another infringement 10mins later gave Israel the chance at another shot at the posts, but his kick drifted right this time.
With the scores so close, you began to wonder if these missed opportunities could be crucial by the end of the match.

Carlisle though were beginning to build possession and keep the Lowmoor side on the back foot. As the ball was put into the left corner, pinning Wigton in their 22, scrum half Matty Roper quickly recycled the ball out across the backline and for the first time as the Wigton cover defence was caught short, winger Dan Holmes crashed through in the right corner,despite the best attentions of a multitude of Wigton players.

With replacement fly half James Telford just missing the conversion the Carlisle side were now a score ahead at 11-3 with around 15mins left, but it didn't feel like enough. Wigton upped their game and pressed Carlisle back into their own half, looking for an opportunity to get back into the game.
Strangely that came from a period of Carlisle pressure in Wigton's 22m, as Wigton's fly half David Hanabury put full back Greg Smith into space at pace. Leaving a trail of missed tackles by the Carlisle defence down the right hand side, he was finally brought down in Carlisle's 22m. There were however enough supporting Wigton players to ensure that No8 Jay Henderson had the easiest of tasks to stroll under the posts for a try, converted by Smith.

11-10 with 5 minutes to go, game on.

There were a lot of fraught nerves amongst spectators and players alike, and both sides have recent memories of being denied by last minute penalties. However lessons learned from last week in winning ugly against Littleborough, allowed Carlisle to keep their nerve, run down the clock, and it was a mighty relief to the home support when Matty Roper booted the ball off the park from the back of a ruck to end the game.

Not a classic match by any means, with both sides struggling to keep control of the ball at times, but Carlisle probably deserved this, and its another 4 points in the bank to put them up to 4th in the league.

Commenting afterwards Head Coach David Stout said "Great commitment generally and a strong forward display which carried us through a game that was closer than it should have been. With that much ball we left a lot of points out there, with enough dropped passes and knock on's to frustrate everyone, not least myself. That said this young side is on a steep learning curve so plenty to work on back at training."

Captain Tom Graham added "Not a game for spectators, or Wigton. A scrappy affair but loved playing every minute, we left a lot of opportunities out on the pitch but the character and commitment of the lads gave us enough to win the game. A lot to improve but I'll take a win however it comes."

Next week we are off to the seaside as we visit Silloth, who we are grateful to for hosting a number of our home fixtures last season. On this occasion though we won't be showing them any favours as we try to press on with our journey up the table.