THERE was to be no winning ending for Liam Harrison as the Cumbria Select XIII were beaten 48-16 in the retiring Barrow Raiders second row's testimonial match at Craven Park.
A second-minute penalty to the home side after Kieron Moran took out Jamie Dallimore off the ball allowed Cumbria to exert some early pressure, but they found themselves six points down just one minute later when David Scott raced in from halfway for a try which Ryan Brierley converted.
Brierley was involved in the build-up to Scotland's second try 13 minutes later, flicking an inside pass for Ben Kavanagh, who in turn set up Callum Phillips to go over from close range, followed by again adding the extras.
Three minutes later, Joe Bullock was penalised for tackling Huddersfield Giants scrum-half Brierley off the ball and that was swiftly followed by Frankie Mariano powering his way through the Cumbria defence for a third converted try.
Scott's second try of the night pushed the visitors even further in front, but Cumbria pulled one back when full-back Matty Russell made a mess of gathering a kick from Dallimore and Ryan Fieldhouse took advantage, dotting down close to the posts to give Chris Hankinson an easy conversion.
Brierley then managed to get a try of his own, being sent through by Kavanagh and then dancing his way past several would-be tacklers before scoring underneath the posts and duly adding two more points.
Two tries either side of half-time from Fleming, one of which was converted by Hankinson, saw Cumbria narrow the gap to 10 points though.
The first came following a spell of pressure in the Scotland 20 and saw the winger finish off a swift attack, with the second coming six minutes after the break when he went over in the corner.
Adam Walker's converted score just after the hour-mark gave Scotland more of a cushion, although they still found themselves put under pressure when Brad Marwood was held up over the line and then a kick from Hankinson forced a drop-out.
But further tries from Moran, Sam Brooks and Lewis Tierney – finishing a length-of-the-field move – saw Scotland run out comfortable winners.
Ultimately though, the result mattered little to the Cumbria team and Harrison, with the man himself being honoured with a presentation from Scotland Rugby League chairman Keith Hogg after the final whistle as he signed off after a 10-year professional playing career.
Cumbria Select XIII: Ryan Fieldhouse; Eze Harper, Hankinson, Chris Fleming, Shane Toal; Jamie Dallimore, Liam Finch; Joe Bullock, Karl Ashall, Oliver Wilkes, Liam Harrison, Bradd Crellin, Dan Toal.
Interchange: Dan Abram, Brad Marwood, Matty Holmes, Andrew Dawson, Brad Brennan, Matty While, Luke Cresswell, Ethan Kelly.
Scotland: Matty Russell; Lewis Tierney, Ben Hellewell, Tyler Cassell, David Scott; Danny Addy, Ryan Brierley; Adam Walker, Liam Hood, Frankie Mariano, Brett Phillips, Dale Ferguson, Ben Kavanagh.
Interchange: Callum Phillips, Sam Brooks, Sheldon Powe-Hobbs, Billy McConnichie, Kieron Moran, Ryan Maneely.
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