CLUB captain Matt Hughes has admitted his relief after his Kirkby Lonsdale outfit edged a last-gasp victory over Warrington at Underley Park.

Kirkby blew Warrington away in the opening exchanges and had the bonus point secured after seventeen minutes as they raced into a 22-0 lead.

But Warrington fought their back into the game and took a 25-26 lead with just five minutes left on the clock.

Just as the game looked to be slipping away from Kirkby, eighteen-year-old full-back Ryan Terry kicked over a penalty to ensure they maintained their 100 per cent record of home wins this season.

And skipper Hughes was delighted the youngster handled the pressure.

"Tom Pickthall has been carrying a hamstring injury so Ryan has kicked for the last two weeks so it is only his second game with that responsibility so I was delighted with that," said Hughes.

"A lot of people on the touchline thought when they edged ahead we had lost it but the lads showed great character to come back and win for us so there was a bit of relief in the dressing room

"A couple of years ago we probably would have lost that game. To come back in the final few minutes, re-gather the restart, win the penalty and knock it over and then keep the ball for three minutes was brilliant - they showed great character."

Although Kirkby let their substantial lead slip, Hughes insists his squad were expecting nothing less from a side who last year finished just two points behind them.

"We started well," he said. "Four tries early on caught them cold then we seemed to ease off and they came back into it.

"They are a very good side who have beaten some good teams already so we knew they were going to come back at us.

"In fairness they put us under pressure. We made a few mistakes we probably shouldn't have made but that comes from training together and playing more. There are still a few players missing so any win while not at full strength is good."

Kirkby travel to winless Wigton on Saturday in search of their first away win of the season - but Hughes is under no illusions about the quality of opposition they will face.

"It's never easy going there," he said. "I think we have only won up there once while I 've been playing so we wont be reading too much into the league table.