The annual Billy Davidson Memorial Trophy was played at Lowca this year, where the two teams and their brave supporters faced appalling conditions as Storm Jorge brought freezing, gale-force winds and left the playing surface sodden.

Billy had played for both clubs in his successful rugby career and tragically died from a heart defect in his 30s.

This year, the match was played to raise funds for Team Evie and the charity’s work with sick children, with £314 being raised.

Despite the occasion, the game was played in a very competitive spirit and it was Distington who opened the scoring with a try 10 minutes in from the veteran Clayton Sutton on the right wing, which Sutton superbly converted himself despite the swirling gusts.

They doubled their lead on 20 minutes when Kelvin Lynch broke free and sprinted over the whitewash to dab down on the left wing, again converted by Sutton.

But the game was end-to-end and the youthful Lowca side were causing quite a few problems for the far more experienced Cumberland Premier Division 2019 League Cup winners and Cumberland Cup holders.

Their efforts were rewarded as they grabbed a try back from Paul McNally but by half time the visitors had built up a 4-24 lead.

Despite another try for McNally in the second half, three tries from Scott George and one from Jack Penrice, alongside two more Sutton conversions, gave the visitors a comfortable if not always easy 8-32 final scoreline.

Billy’s brother Terry presented the trophy to Distington captain George.