Heaton Moor Senior Colts 10-11 Kirkby Lonsdale
After the try-fest served by these two sides last month, Sunday’s encounter was a much tighter affair with visitors Kirkby Lonsdale digging deep to hold on for a victory by the narrowest of margins at Green Lane.
Missing some big names, Moor struggled to get any foothold in the game. The penalty count was worryingly high, although a lot of these were down to an eagerness which resulted in many offside decisions.
Heaton Moor dominated the early exchanges but resolute defending from Kirkby kept them at bay.
The visitors should have scored the first try after 12 minutes and that they didn’t owed much to their own poor handling inches from the try line and a last-ditch tackle.
But the reprieve for Moor was short-lived and just three minutes later, Kirkby took the lead with a try in the corner to open up a five-point advantage.
The visitors also missed two very scorable penalties and it looked just before half-time that they would regret those as Nick Tenney touched down to level proceedings after a great break from a scrum by Jono Glanfield.
Having worked hard to get level, Moor then conceded another penalty, this one under the shadow of the posts would not be missed and the visitors led 8-5 at the break.
The first ten minutes of the second half saw a big improvement in the home team, Dylan Starkie coming in to add a bit of pace.
But it was the big prop Fred McIlwraith who put Moor in front for the first time, taking the ball at pace from a close in penalty and he was not going to be stopped.
This should have been the catalyst for the senior colts to push on and win the game but from the kick off, Kirkby Lonsdale pressurised and won another penalty which due its facile location put the visiting team in front by one point 11-10.
Still twenty odd minutes to play and with a numerical advantage due to injuries, it still looked like Heaton Moor would finish strongly, but the visitors, stubborn and impressive in equal measure, held on for an unlikely victory with the remainder of the game without a score.
A trip to Liverpool Collegiate lies ahead next week for Heaton Moor and a chance to rediscover a winning habit.
