Sat 7 Sep 2019, 14:30
Upper Eden travelled to West Cumbria full of hope and deservedly achieved their first away league win since April last year.
EGREMONT 12 - UPPER EDEN 28
Egremont were first to attack straight from the kick-off, but Eden won possession in front of their own posts and slowly gained ground. A promising break down the right flank by winger Dan Birkbeck came to nothing when he lost the ball in contact.
The visitors seemed to be getting on top at this stage, handling well in the face of some strong tackling, but a careless pass gave away possession. Egremont attacked, exploiting missed tackles, and it took some excellent last-ditch defensive work to rescue Upper Eden who countered in turn.
Good handling and support play took them to their opponents’ 22 where a marginally forward pass cost them a certain try. They remained on the front foot, but Egremont were proving a tough nut to crack and ran strongly when possession came their way.
A hard tackle bundled a home player into touch where a brief dispute led to a yellow card for Eden winger Will Simpson. A penalty took the hosts deep into the 22 and they took the lead against the run of play when they crossed for a converted try following an untidy five-metre scrum.
The visitors responded strongly and the penalty brought them an attacking lineout which they made a mess of, but they remained camped in their opponents’ 22 for a long spell.
Chances came their way, but impatience and a touch of white line fever led to errors. At last they got it right and, having gained ground from a lineout drive, they moved the ball neatly across the park to Dan Birkbeck who did what he does best, beating the cover defence for an excellent try in the corner.
Following the restart, centre Dan Todd broke from deep and got as far as the opposing 22 before he was tackled. Eden drove forward from the breakdown and, after a tap penalty and a couple of kicks on the goal line, back row Will Birkbeck forced his way over from short range to give his side a 10-7 half-time lead.
Gathering momentum after the restart, Eden took play to their opponents’ 22 where Matt Brass put over a penalty to increase their lead by three points.
The going was tough and both sides took the direct route with the ball as they attempted to break through only to be met with uncompromising tackling.
The game became fractious, due in part to some poor refereeing, and flanker George Johnstone was twice penalised when making perfectly legitimate turnovers at the breakdown. This kept Egremont in contention and play remained in the visitors’ territory until Dan Todd’s long clearance kick relieved the pressure. Eden stole the lineout and the ball was worked across to Dan Birkbeck who ran well down the right before kicking ahead for full back Sam Edgar to win the race to the touchdown, though the conversion was missed.
Eden came straight back to establish a promising field position, but a loose pass wasted a golden opportunity. They continued to threaten until they were mysteriously penalised at a five-metre scrum and the hosts took play to the other end where it remained for a long time.
The game became disjointed and messy as errors abounded, not helped by a hesitant referee who seemed to have a strange interpretation of the rules and little control over the game.
In a bruising spell the visitors tackled hard, putting in some huge hits, led, as usual, by front row James Birkbeck, and there was no way through for their opponents.
Eventually, Todd again cleared with another long kick, but Eden failed to capitalise on their improved territory, thanks to slack support play and hard, sometimes illegal, tackling by Egremont.
They had to be content with a long-range penalty goal, well struck by Ollie Bennett which settled them down a bit.
The decisive blow followed when the forwards disrupted an Egremont scrum and good, aggressive work by Tom Mooney won them a penalty. Bennett took a quick tap and jinked his way through a flat-footed defence for a self-converted solo try to secure a bonus point and put the result beyond doubt.
The hosts still showed persistence, running hard at Upper Eden who tackled just as hard. A fracas took place — not unexpectedly under the circumstances. Once it was sorted, Egremont took a quick penalty and ran the ball wide for a consolation try in the corner.
This was a satisfying result in their opening league fixture for the young Upper Eden side in what turned out to be a seriously tough encounter. Superior fitness, self-belief and, on occasion, tactics, brought them victory in the end.
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