It was blowing a storm over in the North-East but at Wigton the weather was fine. Make no mistake though at half time there were storm clouds of a different kind brewing as the home side threatened to derail the Carlisle juggernaut in a keenly contested derby match.

Carlisle were able to name an unchanged starting 15 for the third game running and that is always a great advantage. On the bench there were also welcome returns for Dan Holmes, from long term injury, and also Guy Graham on his return to the club in the RL off season.

It all started so well for the visitors. They dominated the early exchanges. Possession was retained well and the Wigton defence continually stretched and tested as Carlisle worked their way into the Wigton half. Eventually it cracked as on 6 minutes scrum half Vince Lung found a gap from the base of a ruck and sneaked over for the first try. Jake Whittaker converted. From the restart this pattern continued. An excellent kick chase after the restart saw Olli Burns recover the ball and the pattern was set again. Carlisle again showed excellent possession retention and an ability to move the ball wide when required. Space was ultimately created for full back Lewis Tingey to show his undoubted pace and a second try was forthcoming on 10 minutes. 12-0 up and Carlisle were cruising.

And cruising became the operative state. Whilst they continued to dominate the possession the cutting edge dissipated and the Wigton defence held firm. Encouraged the home side began to work their way into the game and, whilst they struggled at the set piece, when they got a little possession their runners began to make inroads into the Carlisle defence. In particular the home sides centre partnership of Marrs and Lewis ran hard and created space. They were held back a bit on losing player to the bin for repeated offending, but that just seemed to spur the home side on. Having worked their way into Carlisle territory they too now showed great possession retention and space was created for their impressive young full back Okense to go over in the corner.

Carlisle too lost a player to the bin, Dan Holmes offending at a ruck having just come on, and suddenly the visitors were on the back foot. Again finding space through centrefield, Wigton recycled and broke down the short side and an interchange on passes saw them over in the corner. A magnificent touchline conversion and it was all square at the break.

Whatever harsh words were said at half time they had little effect immediately after the break. A truly awful restart kick saw Carlisle back in there own half. Another Wigton blindside move and another Wigton try. Suddenly the home side led 19-12 and their supporters had some real hope they could cause an upset. Carlisle needed to regroup, and to their credit they did. Guy Graham, on at half time, began to make some effective carries alongside Dan and Josh Holmes. Possession was retained more effectively and after a long phase of play Wigton just ran out of defenders allowing Henry Longworth to go over for the try. From the restart Carlisle repeated the effort, working there way into the home 22 again and this time it was Tom Graham who went over for the bonus point score and reestablished the lead. At scrum time the visitors were now completely dominant and a bit of frustration saw their scrum half Ledingham yellow carded for interference and with Carlisle playing some open attractive rugby now, further try’s were added through Guy Graham and Rory Parish and with 20 minutes to go they had opened up a 15 point gap.

Wigton were now visibly tiring, but commendably their heads never dropped. They fought back tenaciously and had some pressure in the Carlisle 22. This time however the visitors defence was aggressive and effective and just when Wigton looked as if they would score a fourth try a magnificent turnover on the line saw Carlisle clear the danger and the game was effectively won. Two further scores by Carlisle, the first from Alfie Batty on 72 minutes and then a second from Tom Graham on 77 minutes added a bit of gloss to the scoreline for Carlisle but was perhaps harsh on Wigton.

So Carlisle march on, and with St Benedicts surprisingly losing at home to Hawcoat Park a gap has now opened at the top of the table. No game next week so they chance to rest some weary bodies before the trip to Workington and then the return league match against Wigton.

report by Phil Healy