A COMBINATION of forward power, harnessed to intelligent use of difficult playing conditions rewarded Aspatria with a 42-14 win against Leigh.

The five points moved Aspatria up to ninth in North Two West but still only four points clear of the final relegation slot.

The beginning of Storm Ciara lashed diagonally across Bower Park and Aspatria had first use of the howling wind.

With less than two minutes gone Matthew Atkinson combined with Jacques Rowe to gain valuable yards down the right flank.

The move ended with Rowe committing the final defender before finding winger Alex Barton who touched down.

Jack Clegg added to the lead with a penalty, although goal-kicking was pretty much redundant in the conditions.

The Leigh pack then camped near the Aspatria line and eventually scored a converted try.

It was becoming clear that Aspatria had a scrum advantage, and along with excellent line-out tactics, Aspatria had the perfect platform to attack the visitors.

First to take advantage of territory gained was Aspatria’s young prop, Jack Gaskell, who wrestled free from an attempted tackle close in and crashed over the line.

On 28 minutes another Gaskell run - with Greg Dickinson and Rowe adding push - saw him go over again.

The bonus point try followed on 33 minutes. Again Aspatria were blown into the right corner of the pitch where a ruck developed a couple of metres off the try line and scrum-half Clegg picked up the ball and plunged through a forest of legs to dot down.

Trailing 23-7 at the half, Leigh then had use of the conditions and the home side’s substantial advantage could not yet be considered a winning margin.

Leigh initially did very well and on 49 minutes Atkinson galloped down the right touchline, before stand-off Josh Watson took the ball at pace to evade the cover defence and go all the way.

The deciding moment of the game came on 64 minutes when Aspatria were awarded a penalty just inside the Leigh half.

Clegg took a quick tap but was brought down and the culprit received a yellow card. From this point it was all Aspatria.

Gaskell went over the line but deemed held up, and from a twice-set scrum, Aspatria’s pack destroyed the opposition to earn a penalty try.

Replacement Ross Barton chased-down a seemingly innocent ball that initially caused chaos in the Leigh defence. The beneficiary of Barton’s work was Greg Dickinson who got a boot on the bobbling ball and hacked it over the try line and under the posts to allow Clegg an easy conversion.