Last updated at 13:22, Monday, 30 January 2012

The big North One West derby was a tense affair in difficult conditions and a tale of two kickers as Carlisle beat neighbours Wigton 12-6.

Wigton’s Callum Studholme, right, takes on Glen Weightman

The fact that all the points came from the boot tells the tale of a close game played out on a heavy pitch, with tight play dominating the exchanges and the back lines struggling to get going.

It was never, perhaps, going to be a festival of high scoring rugby with only Aspatria having scored fewer points than Carlisle this season against a Wigton side, who struggle away from home. But the tension and endeavour from both sides produced a game that was a classic of its kind.

The Greens had had to make a late change on the morning of the game with veteran prop Andrew Bell pulling out to be replaced by Lindsay Walker playing through the pain with a broken foot.

He was joined in that category by James Brough, who played despite breaking bones in his hand last week.

Despite these handicaps the Wigton pack was able to give the platform to allow their backs the opportunity to gain the upper hand throughout the game, making a number of line breaks which they were unable to capitalise upon.

The home side suffered an early blow when centre Matt Tinsley was carried off injured after a ruck collapsed on top of him, and replaced by Luke Bell.

Carlisle’s first attempt to move the ball wide to use full back Lewis Boyd made them 60 metres and led to a penalty to the home side on ten minutes which Glen Weightman converted to give the Warwick Road side the lead.

It was a real credit to the Wigton midfield defence of David Hanabury, Chris Pattinson and Richard Moffatt that it was really the only back line attack that Carlisle were able to make in the whole game.

Wigton came straight back into the game and proceeded to pressure the Carlisle line using their forwards to attack close in and make inroads leading to the inevitable penalty which was put away on 28 minutes by Gregg Smith.

Carlisle went down to 14 soon after when number eight Lee Brumpton was sin binned for being on the wrong side once too often when Wigton were pushing hard.

However, there was an inevitability to this decision being evened up and soon after Wigton fly half Hanabury followed him to the bin for a similar offence.

There was a great deal of frustration all afternoon from both sides as there appeared to be inconsistency in the application of the laws at the tackle area with players reporting that there was little management of the contact area, instead an immediate whistle with no warnings given which did stop the game from flowing.

When Wigton got on top the Carlisle side were on the receiving end of the lion’s share of penalties and they were in turn speaking back to the referee costing them territory. This was reversed as Carlisle found their footing and Wigton’s attempts to talk to the referee cost them about 50 metres in total at penalties.

Rule number 1 in rugby is “play the referee”, and the Greens did not do this so ultimately it cost them the game.

Wigton suffered the most, allowing seven penalty attempts at their goalposts by the home side but Weightman missed three of them.

Wigton did seek to take advantage of a 14-men Carlisle, spinning the ball wide continuously before seeking to break through the home side’s mid-field but the home but the city side remained resolute in defence.

Carlisle’s second penalty attempt came in the 34th minute as the home side forced a penalty from the scrum.

Weightman was left disappointed, however, as the ball just narrowly edged wide of the posts, thanks largely to the jeers of a large Wigton support.

Just before half-time, he was able to make amends, as a further Wigton indiscipline led to another penalty, which Weightman was able to secure with ease to give his side a 6-3 advantage at the break.

The second half saw a rise in intensity as both sides found opportunities to swing the ball out wide, and both sides made use of their powerful packs of forwards.

It wasn’t long before the penalty count once again began to mount up, and within five minutes Wigton again conceded a penalty.

This provided Carlisle with the chance to substitute the injured Callum Rowlandson with Dan Smithson, who came on in the second row.

Weightman wasn’t able to secure a further three points, however, as the ball again just edged wide of the posts.

As the game wore on, Carlisle were able to absorb a furious attack from Wigton’s forwards.

A penalty 10 metres from Carlisle’s try line was taken by the forwards as they made an attempt for a score.

Carlisle worked well under pressure however, and some fierce counter-rucking allowed Weightman to kick Carlisle to safety.

Wigton were soon back in Carlisle’s half, although briefly, and this time they managed to come away with points as Smith levelled the game with his second successful kick.

The last quarter of the game was characterised by both teams upping the tempo in a bid to secure victory.

As with any local derby, both teams were matched in intensity, despite their current league positions.

It was Carlisle who then managed to edge ahead, taking advantage of the visitor’s mistakes at the breakdown, which were penalised.

This allowed Weightman to take a further three points and just four minutes later, Weightman was once again able to knock over another penalty as the home side forced yet another award from their visitors.

Number eight Stuart Creighton, who was magnificent all afternoon dealt with a retreating scrum with calm authority. Wigton had also identified before the game the threat of Carlisle’s scrum half Tim Hughes but he was marshalled very well by Fergus Ledingham.

Both scrum halves had to deal with a very slippery ball all afternoon and credit to both for their ability to continue to distribute well.

With the score at 12-6 Wigton needed a converted try to win and did come close but Carlisle held on to win.

Wigton can again take positives from the game and with eight games left this season there is still time as other results went their way. But their run to safety must start in earnest soon as they are nine points shy of safety.

As for Carlisle they are stretching away nicely towards the safety of mid-table and are nine points clear of the final relegation place. Just a few more wins will ensure their survival at this level.

First published at 11:30, Monday, 30 January 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk