West earned the five points to close the points difference with the league leaders courtesy of a workmanlike first half performance, which earned those four tries against the league’s bottom side. The second half is best forgotten with neither side bothering the electronic scoreboard.

On a damp afternoon, and on a tussocky pitch,  West came up against a Kirkby Lonsdale side determined to show their vociferous home supporters that they were not bottom of the table material. They flew into every tackle,  making life round the margins tricky and earning two yellow cards and a string of penalties.

With that advantage, together with superiority in the set-piece, West should have made life easier for themselves, but the more the greasy ball was dropped and the final pass went astray,  the worse it got.

Handling errors from the kick-off gave the home side the opening score after just four minutes. West were penalised outside their 22, and from the kick to the corner Kirkby moved the ball along the backs where another missed tackle allowed centre Ollie Higgs to score with Ben Walker converting.

The lead was to last only two minutes as West attacked from the restart - forcing two penalties of their own and opting for a kick to the corner. Jake Linighan took the first of a string of good line-out balls and Jay Corbett who was able to force his way over and twist out the tackle to score. Matt Siddle adding the extras.

On an afternoon when line breaks were few and far between,  West did show what they can do when skipper Ryan Painter burst through from his own half. Will Hilditch was in support and able  to glide through a gap in the defence. It looked like he would go all the way until he was hauled down just a yard short.

Unfortunately, that was the end of his afternoon as he had to be helped off the pitch with an ankle injury. However, referee Martin Denvir had awarded a penalty for the high tackle. When the scrum option was taken Corbett had little trouble in touching down for his second as his pack powered their way over the line.

Siddle’s conversion was wide, but with only 15 minutes of the game gone West were looking in control, and taking advantage of Kirkby’s indiscipline again after 25 minutes.

The penalty was on the home 22 with Painter quick to spot Matty Baggs out in space on the right wing. His cross-kick was perfectly judged to send Baggs in at the corner to take the score to 7-17 (above) .

That margin was immediately reduced to just one score as Kirkby Lonsdale were awarded a kickable penalty from the restart. However, the home side continued to give away penalties, which resulted in flanker Quinn Fogarty yellow carded just before the break. That was the cue for West to get that important try bonus point. It came from Man of the Match Isaac Robinson who was out in space on the left wing to take a pass from Painter  (right) and  the score to 10-22 at the break.

The expectation was that West would continue to use the set-piece possession and penalty count to build a score. It wasn’t to be, despite Kirby Lonsdale also losing second row David Cooper-Dunn to the sin bin after 55 minutes and with most of the second half play in the home half.

Will Corbett did touchdown on the hour mark when he dived through a gap as West mauled their way to the line (above). Unfortunately for him the referee was on the other side,  by the time he’d come round Kirkby had snaffled the ball away. Linighan’s observations on the matter adding insult to injury as the home side were able to clear their lines from the penalty.

The boot was on the other foot with five minutes to go as Kirkby mounted a rare second half attack looking to have forced their way over in the clubhouse corner. However, they were judged to have been held up over the line and the danger was cleared with a goal-line drop out.

It was mission accomplished as far as the league table was concerned,  but there was little celebration among the West players at the end of the game.

There’s a two week break before an important game at Durham City, who are in fifth place seven points behind West,  who in turn are now just four points adrift of leaders Middlesbrough and Northern who both have 40 points.

There is a game next week for the Stags who beat Billingham III’s 66-17 at Brinkburn. They are off to Darlington for a top of the table clash against the Bulls.

Kirkby Lonsdale: Charles Oates, Archie Bamforth, Ollie Higgs, Sam Nicholson, Tom Barnes, Ben Walker, James Billington, Jack Woodhouse, Dan Armistead, Joe Woodhouse, Jack Edmondson, David Cooper-Dunn, Ed Wilson, Quinn Fogarty, Stuart Storey.

Reps (all used): William Baines, Greg Dunnings, Callum Ellis.

Tries: Higgs.

Con: Walker

Pen: Walker

Yellow: Fogarty, Cooper-Dunn

West: Matt Siddle, Sam Knight, Will Hilditch, Peter Youll, Max Tennant, Ben Reed, Ryan Painter, Andrew Rollins, Aidan Jackson-Smith, Adam Hutchinson, Tom Robertson, Will Corbett, Jake Linighan, Isaac Robinson, Jay Corbett.

Reps (all used): Jonny Wray, Matty Baggs, Charlie Kay.

Tries: J. Corbett (2), Baggs, Robinson.

Con: Siddle.

Referee: Martin Denvir (Cumbria)