TALK about stealing the Crown Jewels... Kendal felt they had done the rugby equivalent by the time they left the historic club of Richmond in London on Saturday evening.

Behind them was a bravura display of exciting, open running combined with ultra-committed defence which produced a memorable Powergen Cup victory.

Kendal were focused completely for this third-round tie and created one of club's most memorable days in the national knockout competition to earn a home tie with National 2 outfit Waterloo on November 6.

It was an amazing victory not least because it was believed to be the first at The Athletic Ground by a visiting side since Richmond were reformed five seasons ago.

While Richmond went into the tie on an unbeaten record of close to 80 league matches, this was to be only Kendal's sixth away win since the end of the 2001/2 season and as such represented a heroic team effort.

From the outset Kendal displayed the dashing style they know can tear open defences and full back Simon Mulholland set the tone in the 12th minute when he ran back a clearance kick, storming 60 metres upfield and was only denied from crossing the tryline by a tap tackle.

However, it was Richmond who posted the first points, ex-Saracens stand-off Andy Lee putting over a penalty after Kendal came in at the side of a ruck.

Kendal stand-off Dan Stephens, who was an influential force and showed great composure to direct operations, levelled the scores when Richmond were penalised for offside, but Lee recaptured the lead for his side with a second penalty following foul play in the visitors' 22.

Kendal responded by scoring the game's first try after 19 minutes, an electrifying movement downfield with centre Martin Armstrong and winger Chris Park both prominent before Mulholland finished it by surging over. Although Stephen could not add the conversion, Kendal were 8-6 ahead.

Kendal were then forced to pull out all the stops in defence as Richmond demonstrated why they are top of London One - a league step down from Kendal but probably certain to be playing National League rugby next season.

Skipper and hooker Duncan Green led his men by example with a tremendous work-rate and this was echoed throughout the side.

Prop forward Richard Harryman made some storming runs and was ably assisted by Allen Martindale, who coped admirably on his debut at loose head, and when Dan Bowles replaced him after an hour there was certainly no slackening of momentum.

The experienced defensive skills of centre Phil Graham also came into their own in this intense battle, one very special tackle midway through the second half denying Richmond a score as the home player was starting to lunge towards the tryline.

Richmond continued to give it their all to break down the defence but scrum-half Mark Airey and left wing Paul Dodds were among those to put in crucial stops to hold the line.

It was the third minute of injury time when Richmond finally breached the defence and full back Dan Connolly broke through from close range to score. Lee added the conversion which took his side in at half time with a 13-8 advantage.

Kendal came out for the second half firing on all cylinders and applied control and pressure to force Richmond into a hurried clearance kick to touch from inside their own 22 after back-row forwards Dan Bowman, Gary Holmes and Adrian Bateson carried the ball strongly to set the platform.

Kendal then won the lineout - which was much-improved with second-row Liam Hayton stealing a lot of Richmond ball in the second half - and from the driving maul they forced Richmond back for second-row Dave Preston to touch down for an unconverted score that levelled the match.

Richmond looked to be feeling the pressure as they missed a couple of penalty attempts and it was not long before Kendal added a third try.

Another concerted attack paved the way downfield and when the ball was released in midfield, centre Armstrong launched a crossfield kick into the Richmond in-goal area and winger Chris Park had the pace to win the foot race and touch down.

Stephen's touch-line conversion attempt failed, but Kendal held a five-point lead.

Richmond used the pace and strength of centre Andy Saunders and right wing Joseph Ajuwi to test Kendal to the limit.

It looked ominous when Arnstrong was shown the yellow-card in the 65th minute after a big tackle for preventing quick release with Richmond camped on the Kendal tryline.

But 14-man Kendal kept their concentration, the five-metre scrum could not be budged and the danger passed with all of the squad, including Adrian Nutter who came on late for the injured Holmes and enthusuastic James Gough on the bench, contributing to the atmosphere of a famous victory which will live long in the memories of those intrepid Kendal supporters who made the long trip to the capital.