KENDAL 9 – WESTOE 3

Kendal entertained fourth placed Westoe at Mint Bridge on Saturday in what was a crucial North One league game – Kendal’s final one of 2007 – and one they had to win to keep their unbeaten league run going.

Against what is probably the biggest side in the league Kendal acquitted themselves very well and earned a penalty in the tenth minute when Westoe were caught offside in their backline – a feature of the Westoe game plan which seriously restricted Kendal’s options and one the referee rarely penalised throughout the game, which resulted in a very tight forward orientated game. Dan Stephens kicked the penalty to give Kendal an early three point advantage.

Five minutes later Kendal had hooker Duncan Green sent to the sin bin when he retaliated to an elbow in the face. But under severe pressure the Kendal defence never once cracked and with bone crunching tackles being made, especially one in particular by centre Renier Bester under his own posts which saved a certain try, and then moments later Kendal’s scramble defence forced a knock-on from centre Graeme Haswell as he looked to touch the ball down beneath the posts as Westoe threw everything they had at Kendal as they searched for the game’s first try – it never came.

Kendal’s job got even tougher in the twenty-third minute when second row Gareth Gore was shown a yellow card and for a couple of minutes Kendal were down to thirteen men, this only seemed to galvanise the home side as they kept Westoe at bay.
Kendal did in fact extend their lead in the thirty-fifth minute when Stephens kicked a second penalty. He came in for some rough treatment as he suffered a late tackle after he had cleared the ball to touch, at the end of the first half, for which the offending Westoe player was shown a yellow card.

Ten minute into the second half fullback John McFarlane put the first points on the board for Westoe when Kendal were penalised at a ruck.

Kendal thought they had scored the games first try five minutes later when a text book catch and drive from a penalty lineout in the Westoe twenty-two saw flanker Andrew Hudson rampage his way over the try line only to be penalised by the referee for what he deemed to be a double movement.

Two minutes later though Stephens added a third penalty to Kendal’s tally when they were awarded a penalty for deliberate obstruction on scrumhalf James Gough as he chased his chip through the defence after a wonderful break out of midfield.
Westoe really applied the pressure on Kendal in the final ten minutes of the game as they kept the home side pinned down close to their own try line however Kendal dug deep and repelled two forward drives off penalty lineouts to earn a very hard fought for victory and maintain their unbeaten record in the league.

Pictures available at the link below courtesy of Phil Haswell - Westoe

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pchaswell/sets/72157603474387713/