West Cumbria has three teams through to the first round of the BARLA National Cup.

Wath Brow A and Maryport fell at the preliminary round stage on Saturday but there was progress for Kells, Ellenborough and Glasson.

Aspatria Hornets should also have been involved but their game at Blackbrook was postponed and will be played this Saturday.

The hardest game was at Kells where the Whitehaven side did well in the end to see off a very physical Upton side 12-6.

It looked fairly straightforward at half time with a 10-0 advantage through tries by Jake Parker and Dan Starkie, one converted by Cameron Taylor.

But Upton reduced the gap with a converted try and Kells had to work really hard to get over the finish line, helped by a Taylor penalty.

There were three preliminary round ties in Maryport with both Ellenborough and Glasson getting through.

Maryport were the only losers, going down 34-20 to West Bank Bears.

Craig Foster was the man of the match for Maryport, scoring two tries and kicking four goals. Ethan Williams scored their other try.

Free-scoring winger Kevin Hoban scored a hat-trick of tries for Ellenborough in their 32-10 win over new club Almondbury Spartans.

Elbra, who had raced into a 26-0 lead, also added tries through Zak Olstrom, John Todd and Matthew Bell. Owen Hoyles kicked four goals.

Glasson also got through with an excellent 32-18 win over Illingworth.

They had been 12-0 down, fought back to lead 18-12 and went in at half time all square.

Second-half tries by Ryan Frazer, Sean Mumberson and Matt Burns helped them to a convincing victory.

They had scored first-half tries through John Dollachin, Dan Fryer and Burns. Keenan Walker finished with four goals.

Wath Brow Hornets relied on their A team at Stanningley and went down 20-6.

They had actually gone in front with a try by Daniel Burns which Sam Curwen converted.

First-round ties include Ellenborough v Sharlston Rovers; Glasson v Beverley, Kells v Mirfield Stags and West Hull v Blackbrook or Aspatria.

Those games are being played on February 15.