Match report St Benedicts v Carlisle 9-12-23

When the league fixtures were published in July this was the one game that stood out as the potential for trouble. St Benedicts were the team pre season expected to be our closest challengers, and the vagaries of the league programme determined upon, meant we would play them only once, at their spot, and in December; banana skin potential all round!
December duly arrived and Bennies were second to ourselves in the league and some of the wettest and most unpleasant weather of the season descended on West Cumbria. Further alarm bells were sounding.

In the event the side choose this occasion to produce its most accomplished performance of the season and from midway through the first half the result was never really in doubt. Despite constant rain over the previous 24 hours, and it never let up over the course of the afternoon, the pitch was in remarkably good condition and a credit to the St Benedicts club. Carlisle chose to play with what wind advantage there was in the first period, but then fumbled the kick off receipt and it was the hosts who had the first attack. A pattern was set where try as they might Bennies could not really breach a determined Carlisle defence who were ultimately able to clear their lines and the intelligent boot of Jason Israel enabled good field position to be established. Carlisle proved to be much better organised in the forwards, and established both scrum and lineout dominance early on. Their first incursion into the Bennies 22 saw Josh Holmes crash over from close range on seven minutes after some good collective pick and go’s from the pack. Israel added the extras.

The lead was extended on fifteen minutes. Some indiscipline from Bennies allowed the visitors to kick for a lineout in the home 22. A catch and drive and the maul was heading for the tryline before collapsing just short. Referee Martin Denvir, who had a fine game throughout, could have awarded a penalty try but opted for just the penalty. Carlisle opted for the scrum and after a couple phases Tom Graham went over from close range and Israel again added the extras.
St Benedicts responded well and had a period in the visitors 22 through retaining possession well and advancing at close quarters. But the Carlisle defence was patient and just as Bennies were looking to get back in the game they produced the move of the match in the horrendous conditions. Stripping the ball in contact and finding themselves in possession behind their own try line an opportunity was seen and more importantly taken. Israel moved the ball quickly left to Robbie James and Dan Holmes who were in clear space and released Rhys Callaghan who sprinted into the Bennies half before switching the ball back inside to James who had Vince Lung on his inside to take a scoring pass. Unfortunately the last pass was deemed forward and the score ruled out but a statement had been made and Carlisle never looked back. Another James linebreak set up another scoring opportunity with a lineout on the Bennies 5m line. The home side stood back expecting another driving maul, but Rory Parish, putting in a man of the match performance all round, merely came to ground turned and crashed over.
A further try was added before half time to secure the bonus point, and it was an individual beauty. From a lineout in the Carlisle half, Vince Lung dummied the onrushing defence found a gap through the middle and sidestepped two defenders to go 60m for the score. Israel added the conversion and Carlisle were 26-0 up at half time.

Bennies had the elements in the second half and battled hard to recover. They never gave up and their backs showed that on a drier day they had the potential to offer a serious challenge. However the conditions were against them and consistently Carlisle’s stronger and more disciplined pack had the measure of the West Cumbrians, particularly at the set piece where in the scrum Bennies were constantly going backwards. The conditions worsened considerably in the second half and the light faded fast in the gloom. There was only one score in the second period, a close range effort from Josh Holmes after a series of scrums in the home 22.
Conditions were such overall, that it was some relief when referee Denvir blew the final whistle.

Overall Carlisle can be extremely pleased with this performance. They demonstrated a discipline and determination throughout the full course of the game that has not always been evident. Defence was not perfect, but it was intense when it needed to be and in attack they took their opportunities well. They have opened up a significant gap at the top of the table in their bid to return to Level 6 at the earliest opportunity. Next week they entertain Hawcoat Park, and with a former players reunion scheduled for that day a win would be a great conclusion to the first half of the season.

Report by Phil Healy