MIDDLESBROUGH 3 – KENDAL 28

Kendal made it four wins out of four with a controlled performance away at Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Both sides seemed evenly matched, but it was Kendal who struck first in the fourteenth minute when Middlesbrough were penalised for being offside in their back line. The ever reliable boot of Dan Stephens kicked the three points.
Middlesbrough levelled the scores six minutes later when Kendal were caught offside in their back line. Fullback Simon Moore successfully kicked the penalty.
An infringement at a maul deep in the Middlesbrough twenty-two saw Stephens punt the ball into the corner and from the resulting catch and drive at the lineout lock Gareth Gore was driven over the whitewash for an unconverted try.
A second Dan Stephens penalty a minute before halftime made the scores 3 – 11 to Kendal at the interval.
Middlesbrough had an opportunity early in the second half to pull three points back but Moore’s penalty attempt at goal rebounded back off the crossbar and with excellent running skills Stephens ran the ball out of defence to nearly the halfway line to clear the danger.
A penalty to Kendal midway through the second half again saw the catch and drive used to good effect with the forwards again driving the ball over the try line for Gore to score his second. Stephens added the conversion extending Kendal’s lead to fifteen points.
With Kendal steadily controlling the game in the last twenty minutes they built on their lead with Stephens firstly kicking a neat drop-goal and then six minutes from the end, with Kendal firmly on the offensive, prop Billy Coxon burrowed his way over the try line after some good linking play from backrow Mark Wilson kept the attack alive. Dan Stephens kicked the conversion for a final score of 3 – 28 that puts Kendal at the top the table.