Penrith and Wigton played out a hard fought Cumbria Cup quarter final tie on Wednesday night, Wigton had much the better of the first half and thoroughly deserved to lead at the break but the home side's quality finally told in the second period but for a long time it was a close run thing.
Wigton opened impressively and had all the early pressure and possession, the home side did not help themselves by making numerous unforced errors and it was no surprise when Wigton took the lead after 9 minutes, a break from a line out on the home 22 saw them in behind the home defence and they scored a well taken try. They had further chances to extend their lead but missed a penalty chance and also had a try disallowed. As the half wore on they had two tap penalties on the home line but failed to turn pressure into points as the home line held firm, they did continue to make life uncomfortable for the home side
turning them over at a number of lineouts and taking three scrums against the head.
Penrith showed little in attack before the break but the two moves they did manage to string together could have both resulted in tries if the crucial pass had not gone down. The home side were pleased to reach the break only 5 points in arrears. They had the breeze at their backs in the second half and the low sun in the away teams eyes.
The second half was a completely different affair, two Steve Wood penalties in the first 10 minutes put Penrith's noses in front at 6-5 but the game was still in the balance. It took over 60 minutes for them to conjure up a try and this says something about the Wigton effort and defensive organisation as Penrith have been scoring tries for fun all season. A Gavin Cartmel break up the left and then a chip and chase won a lineout in the visitors 22. The home forwards won the lineout and drove for the line, they eventually bundled David Preston over the line
in the corner for the try. Wood's conversion off the touchline put Penrith two scores ahead and this seemed to calm the nerves as they scored a second try directly from the kick off. Preston caught the restart and galloped into the visitors half, Dawson continued the drive and when the ball came to Wood his flat miss pass found Cartmel who burst through the first line of defence and he drew the fullback to give Mike Hawley a simple run in, Wood again converted.
It was only now with the game won that Penrith really hit the straps and showed what hey are capable of, they scored a third try to put them out of sight, several phases of play had opened up the game, Cartmel and Hawley combined to create the space for Preston who appeared at outside centre to claim his second try, Wood converted for a 100% record with the boot.