Kendal 25 Wilmslow 15

DESPITE a resilient performance, Lady Luck simply did not shine on Wilmslow Wolves on Saturday.

Rick Jones’ side slipped to their 12th defeat of the Northern Premier season on an afternoon when things simply did not go their way.

Bob MacCallum appeared to have a perfectly good penalty kick ruled out with 15 minutes to play – a kick that would have brought the Wolves back to within a score of the home side – while the visitors received no advantage from what looked a clear knock-on, with Kendal taking the lead from the same phase of play.

On what was their first ever visit to Kendal’s new Mintbridge home, Wilmslow started brightly.

MacCallum prodded an early penalty into the danger zone, which led to him sending Ben Day between the posts for the game’s opening score.

Five minutes later, Wilmslow turned the ball over from a close-range Kendal scrum but quickly lost it again, allowing the hosts to counter and send Nick Carlton in for the first of his three tries.

Then came Kendal’s controversial second score, with the referee appearing to play advantage for Wilmslow as a home forward knocked on.

However, when no advantage was forthcoming, play continued instead of Wilmslow being awarded. They were then penalised at the breakdown and Kendal kicked themselves ahead.

Another Kendal knock-on from the restart then went unnoticed and from a quick penalty, Jack Lashley touched down for the hosts.

To their credit, Wilmslow responded well and finished the half with MacCallum kicking a penalty to ensure they trailed by only five points at the interval.

The first score of the second half came for the hosts as Carlton scored his second try, before MacCallum’s penalty attempt was ruled to have missed despite appearing to go between the posts.

Wolves did not let that bother them initially, however, and after MacCallum had kicked another penalty to the corner, they drove for Kyle Mellor to touch down.

Sadly, however, they could not force their way back into Kendal territory from the restart as the hosts were impressive in managing the game.

A penalty kicked to the corner in the dying embers of the game led to Carlton sealing his hat-trick – a try that also secured a bonus point for his side.

Wilmslow remain bottom of the Northern Premier, but face a crucial game on Saturday in what will be their final fixture before the Christmas break as they host Vale of Lune – the side immediately above them in the table.

Kick off is at 2.15pm.