IN the Cumbria League Egremont won 7-0 at Millom in a match which counted for the Jackson Cup.

It’s played between the two clubs every season and the trophy is awarded to the side which has the best points aggregate over the home and away matches.

With the first game having been won by Egremont at Bleach Green by the narrow margin of 26-23, Saturday’s match was given an added edge.

The game was predictably tight from the start and, as both sides struggled to keep control of the wet ball, continuity was in very short supply.

it was one of Egremont’s much respected senior players who broke the deadlock as stand-in scrum-half. Graham Temple sold a crowd-fooling dummy on his own 22 metre line to open up the Millom defence.

He drew the final defender and slipped a perfectly timed pass to centre and Man-of-the-Match Jack Gascoyne who had made a superb supporting run to score under the posts from 50 metres out.

Full-back Joseph Brennan, who was excellent throughout the game, added the conversion and that try, it is fair to say, was the clear highlight of the match as both teams continued to have problems maintaining possession.

Egremont’s rangy and athletic flanker Aidan Coulthard came close to clinching the game late on with a long midfield break, and the forwards also had a number of pick-and-go drives near the try line led from the front by outstanding flanker Richard Marr, but Millom defended courageously to deny them any further scores.

All three top sides in the league won on Saturday with Upper Eden scoring a 43-0 home win against Windermere. Whitehaven also keeping a clean sheet in a 22-0 win at Carlisle Crusaders while Cockermouth won well, 38-18 at fourth-placed Furness.

Workington avenged a heavy home defeat against Silloth when they won a tense return game 22-19.