Cumbria got off to a winning start in their County Championship Shield campaign when they beat Staffordshire 42-10 at Penrith’s Winters Park.

It means they should travel with confidence to Mansfield on Saturday to take-on Notts, Lincs and Derby for a winner take-all clash with their hosts.

Last week Notts, Lincs and Derby won 28-20 in Staffordshire and the victors next Saturday will earn a place in the Shield semi-final.

Staffordshire were a workman like side but that was about it, as they lacked any real edge in attack and were suspect in defence.

Cumbria opened their account after only five minutes. They had been on the defensive but didn't look like conceding and ran the ball out of their 22.

Mike Hawley chipped ahead in behind the visitor's left winger and James Ellar, on the Cumbria right, took yards out of him and won the race to the ball. He then had the pace to outrun the cover in a straight footrace.

Ellar had the day’s kicking duties and converted his own try, as he did the other five subsequently scored.

Staffordshire came back hard and pinned Cumbria back in their own half and for a while dominated possession but the Cumbrian line held firm and although the visitors were rewarded with a penalty for their efforts the home defence did not look in danger of being breached.

As the half went on Cumbria had more of the play and extended their lead after kicking a penalty to the corner for the lineout. They actually lost the throw but regained possession and drove for the line.

They were held up there a couple of times until Paul Newton sniped close to the ruck and darted in to score.

Forwards and backs combined well for the next score and took play up to the visitor's 22. David Barton then went blind and found Nick Beach with a flat miss pass and he took his chance well stepping back inside two tackles.

Cumbria turned round 21-3 ahead and put the game to bed nine minutes into the second period. The forwards drove the ball up to the Stafford line and were awarded a five-metre scrum. The back row ran a move from the base of the scrum and a couple of drives later scrum half Newton again found himself in space and broke through close to the breakdown to score.

There were a flurry of substitutions which didn't help the pattern of the game but Cumbria scored again following a poor clearance kick. Robert Dawson fielded the kick and found Mike Raine who made ground before finding Joe Nattrass with a wide pass to the wing. Nattrass stepped back inside the first defender and cut a line back inside to score a well taken try.

Cumbria then rather let Stafford back into the game with a looped miss pass that was intercepted and gave the visitor's centre a clear run to the line.

The hosts then replied in similar fashion when stand off Barton, who had an impressive game, also intercepted and ran in under the posts for the final try.

Centre Tom Bartram scored all Staffordshire's points in a second consecutive defeat with an interception try, conversion and penalty.

Cumbria team manager Mark Richardson said: "Our only injury worry ahead of the trip to Mansfield next weekend is centre Martin Armstrong, who came off after five minutes with a leg injury. That was a bit worrying at the time, but his replacement Gavin Cartmel played exceptionally well, as did his Penrith club-mate and No 8 Mike Raine, who was outstanding.

"Considering it was probably his first game at this level, Furness full-back Nick Beech also did particularly well, while replacement prop Andreas Venter from Furness also made a very big impact when he got on.

"The rolling subs regulations had me running to the fourth official several times to keep abreast of how we were doing, but in the end it worked out really well. We used 11 of our 12 interchanges, two for injuries and nine as tactical moves.

"The beauty of the regulation for us is that we have a strong squad of 22 and it was difficult to finalise the starting line-up in the first place. The new rules allowed us to tell the players to really go all out from the start and that we would make changes in the second-half. That's what we did and it seemed to work out really well."

We pride ourselves at getnoticedonline.co.uk on providing the best rugby action shots - union and league - and our man on the spot DAVE NATTRASS has excelled with all six tries from Cumbria's win over Staffordshire, plus a team shot.

Going over in descending order are James Ellar, Paul Newton, Nick Beach, Paul Newton again, Joe Nattrass and Dave Barton (making the interception). But what about th guy doing his impression of the Angel of the North in the Beach try picture?

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