Wigton v Carlisle County Cup 25-11-23

There must have been some doubts about who Carlisle were going to face when they turned up at Lowmoor road following their home defeat in the league encounter with Wigton two weeks ago.

Any fears were settled in the first minute as a scrum was emphatically won by Carlisle, setting the scene for the set piece all game. The resulting penalty gave Jason Israel the opportunity for a 5m lineout, and Carlisle grasped the opportunity to exploit the field position, centre Jamie Blakely going over for a try converted by Israel.

Little more than 5 minutes later another penalty infringement gave Carlisle a lineout deep in the Wigton 22. From the back of the resulting driving maul, lock Rory Parish peeled off and fended off 5 Wigton defenders to crash over for Carlisle's second.
Although Wigton tried to get back into the game and kept the Carlisle defence honest, it was the visitors who were back on the scoreboard 10 minutes later as Rhys Callaghan finished off a backs move down the right wing, leaving Carlisle 19-0 up with the first quarter barely gone.

Again Wigton tried their best to find a way through the Carlisle defence but were simply unable to find the gaps. Carlisle just turned up the heat and with set piece dominance, drove their way back up the park. Captain Josh Holmes was just foiled in his drive for the line, but a resulting 5m scrum, gave the visitors the platform for their 4th try and a 26-0 lead that they would take into the half time break.

There must have been some Carlisle hearts fluttering when Wigton started strongly in the second half, bagging a try within 2 minutes of the restart, to get their first points on the board. However any thoughts of a Carlisle cave in like the last games were quickly quashed as Guy Graham bagged his second from the back of a driving pack.
The two teams then traded tries as Carlisle changed the side around, Tom Graham burrowing over from the back of a driving maul, and Wigton utilising quick tap penalties to good effect. It was Carlisle who finished the stronger of the two though as tries from Finn Mulholland and then Rhys Callaghan put any thoughts of a Wigton revival to bed, Carlisle running out comfortable winners 52-19.

A pleasing overall performance for Coach George Graham, though he wouldn't have been happy with the conceded tries.
Back to the league next week, though we are not sure when, as there are rumours that the Millom game at home next Saturday will be off with the visitors unlikely to raise a side. We'll keep you posted.