TRAFFORD MV made an arduous journey to Silloth, on the Solway Firth, in the national RFU Senior Vase and the journey probably took its toll in a narrow defeat.

Silloth dominated the early stages and took the lead through a penalty which was soon repeated for a 6-0 lead.

Trafford got on the scoreboard when captain Ben Wheeler elected to kick a penalty just inside the Silloth half, 6-3.

Silloth came back at MV with more pressure and soon restored Silloths six point lead with a further penalty 9-6. With Silloth pressure the inevitable came, A crossfield kick saw the home side winger collect and score in the corner to make it 14-3. MV struggled to get back in the game and a further penalty made it 17-3 at half time.

Throwing everything at Silloth in the second half, MV pinned the Cumbrians in there own half and this pressure resulted in a penalty in front of the posts which MV took quickly and caught Silloth napping as playmaking centre Sean Garvey found a gap to score, Wheeler added the easy conversion 17-10.

MV putting pressure on Silloth and with 25 minutes of the second half gone MV reduced the deficit with another long range penalty, 17-13.

Silloth weathered the MV storm and with a huge crowd behind them went all out attack as they looked to put the game out of reach but MV's defence was resolute. Both sides had fought an excellent battleas the referee blew the final whistle with Silloth 17-13 winners.

This was a great display of Cumbrian vs Lancashire Rugby with as often the case the journey proving too much for the travelling side. MV will face Dukinfield in the next group stage of the comp in a couple of weeks.

This weekend MV have a tough home fixture againt League leaders Tarleton - MV need to make a statement in their League fixtures which have seen them fall short on the seasons expectations. Injuries have plagued the side since early days and consistency has not been achieved. Kick off for Sat games at MV (M33 6LR) is 2.15 pm.