December 22, 2001

By Steve Coulter

KELLS are through to a record eleventh Jennings Cumbria Cup final after an exhilarating 16-10 semi-final victory over Ellenborough Rangers.

The tie was switched to Egremont's Gillfoot Park at BARLA's insistence after the game had been postponed three times due to the unfit state of Ellenborough's Solway Park and Miltofts grounds.

The Maryport side made three late changes after Paul Hay, Neil Humes and Paul Gorge all went down with a flu type virus, while player-coach Jony Gorley still struggling with injury was again ruled out.

In freezing temperatures, Kells faced a strong swirling wind in the first-half playing down the slope.

Strong running and solid defence was a feature of the opening forty minutes in an often rugged and spirited affair which left try scoring opportunities at a premium.

Scrum-half Paul 'Chipper' Graham produced an admirable performance for Kells and his enthusiasm permeated through the rest of his team mates.

While the win was without doubt the result of a superb team effort and a well-calculated match plan, Kells had plenty of stars, but none was better than Graham.

Eddie Robinson, in tremendous form of late, was again buzzing for Ellenborough. But for once, his efforts went largely unrewarded.

Loose-forward Dean Bragg was presented with the first chance to open the Welfare Ground sides' account after 8 minutes, but his well-struck penalty attempt was blown off-course by the blustery conditions.

With both sides attempting to to gain the initiative drop-goals came into play in an effort to break the deadlock. Two attempts at either end all failed and it wasn't until the 31st minute that the next real opportunity fell to Ellenborough's Paul McGee whose penalty kick came back off a post.

The stalemate continued and they went in at half-time with the scores still locked at nil-all.

The breakthrough came eight minutes into the second period when Kells hooker Kevin Agnew angled a grubber kick and winger Phil Walker flashed through to ground the ball in the right hand corner.

Kells had been magnificent in defence up to this point, pounding the Rangers ball runners with some body-jarring hits which brought gasps from the large crowd. But a surge on 55 minutes saw the lead change hands when Rangers second-rower Jason Moore broke through a tackle to go 20 metres for a score between the posts. Back-row partner Paul McGee added the goal to edge the Maryport outfit 6-4 ahead.

Two minutes later and the Kells defence was found wanting again as Ellenborough kicked through on the last tackle and left winger Philip Hoyles reacted fastest to drop on the ball.

Kells, shaken by their defensive lapses drove forward with renewed commitment and reaped a rich reward on 69 minutes when Agnew took the ball from acting half-back 15 metres out to scoot in. Graham's conversion tied the scores at 10-all with ten minutes remaining.

With extra-time looking a distinct possibility, 18-years-old full back Ross McBride linked with his threequarter-line and latched onto a long speculative pass to spin out of a tackle and cross behind the posts. Graham again added the goal, and at 16-10 Kells tightened their belts and wound down the remaining eight minutes to set-up a final showdown with Wath Brow Hornets at the Copeland Stadium on 29th December.

Both camps agreed that the best side won with Kells spokesman Russell Lofthouse jubilant. "It was a good hard game with the right result from our point of view.

"A big crowd provided a great atmosphere and to say I'm delighted is an understatement," he said.

Ellenborough chairman Wilson Smith was full of praise for Kells performance. "Kells took their chances very well and we didn't and ultimately paid the penalty.

"They are a young side definitely on the way up and we found them very difficult to break down.

"I never like making excuses, but I think our game at Normanton in the Challenge Cup eventually took its toll. And having three cry off with illness didn't help our preparation.

We had to use three forwards - Stuart McDougall, Paul McGee and Ryan Charters - in the three-quarter line, with the result being we looked completely unbalanced.

"At 10-4 with eleven minutes to go we had the tie won, but our concentration dipped and Kells, to their credit took full advantage.

"Everybody gave it their best shot, but on the night it just wasn't good enough and we wish Kells all the best for the final."