The Keswick breakthrough came on the 10’ mark when centre back Wilson found Barnes with a precise pass allowing the striker to slot home from close range. Keswick continued to have plenty of attacking possession and Swanston, Barnes and Proctor all had chances to make it 2-0 but the second goal came when Proctor managed to find Barnes from Midfield who rounded the onrushing keeper to grab his second of the game. Just before half time a well worked short corner gave the young right back Shaw a chance to produce an exceptional drag flick in to the top right corner giving the keeper no chance.
Keswick started the second half quickly when a sleeping Kendal midfielder was robbed deep in his own half and the resulting shot come cross was parried by the Kendal keeper and Barnes was on hand to convert the keeper’s mistake to complete his hat trick. Keswick then lost their strong hold on the game when instead of shutting up shop they continued to search for more goals. This resulted in over committing men forward which in turn cost them two quick fire goals. The first was from brilliant centre forward play followed by a smart finish. The second was a well worked short corner. Keswick continued to create chances that could have increased the gap back to a comfortable margin but both Proctor and Jackson had their chances defended with brilliant goal keeping from the Kendal GK.
The closing part of the game was end to end with Keswick not getting the balance of attack and defence right; this allowed Kendal to produce some dangerous counter attacks which were broken down by the Keswick defence and keeper. The game changed when a defensive error gave Kendal an open run of attack putting them just a goal away from taking points from the home team after all their efforts. Kendal had their tails up and smelling blood they started throwing men forward looking for the equaliser and only defensive brilliance from MOM Fennell stopped Kendal taking any points back south of the county with them.
Written by Mark Proctor