After a nerve jangling final league game last weekend Penrith finished their season with a smile on their faces winning the county cup against arch local rivals Kendal. On a lovely sunny afternoon they ran out winners by the odd point in a hard fought contest.
As is their wont away from Winters Park they did not have the best of starts messing up the Kendal kick off and spending time defending in their own 22. They looked as if they had weathered the early storm but Nathan Woof had a clearance kick charged down, it looked as if it might result in a try as the ball trickled towards the line but Brad Taylor's pace enabled him to get back to save the situation but only at the cost of a 5m scrum as he carried the ball over the line.
Kendal won their put in to the scrum and their first attempts at crashing over from short range were thwarted, only when they set up a driven maul did they make any headway and drove over the line for a converted try.
Penrith then upped their game and got into the opposition half and exerted a bit of pressure of their own. They were awarded a penalty on the 22 which captain and scrum half Ed Swale had taken in a flash and was almost to the line before the Kendal defence woke up to the situation, the Penrith forwards then battered the line but it was Swale who burrowed through a gap to claim the try, Wooff then atoned for his charge down with a well struck conversion to level the scores.
Penrith were not long in taking the lead, Taylor fielded a poor clearance kick and stepped the chaser to make ground up the left hand touchline, he chipped ahead and it looked pretty harmless until James Boustead chased it down. He forced, first one man and then another to spill the ball and he harried the defenders back over their own line and set his side up with an attacking 5m scrum.
The two sets of forwards were reasonably matched in the set with perhaps Penrith just shading it, they won steady ball and set up Matt Allinson whose charge got him almost to the line, the forwards piled in then the ball was released to the backs. Ross Jackson played the ball behind the first runner and found Boustead who drew in the last man and put Taylor in at the corner, he then had the sense to run round as near to the posts as he could to make Wooff's task as easy as possible and his kick went over for a seven point lead.
Penrith then had another nightmare moment when a charge down nearly cost them a try and this time it was the quick thinking of Swale that got them out of trouble. Kendal did then get some reward as Penrith were caught offside on the 22 in front of their own posts and the penalty was taken and the lead reduced to 14-10 and that was difference at the break.
The start of the second half saw neither side get the upper hand, Kendal did have chance of first blood but a penalty attempt came back off the post. Penrith then had a penalty opportunity after a catch and 20 yard drive from a lineout just in their own half was stopped illegally, the attempt however slid wide and the game went into the final quarter.
Kendal then worked a try after Penrith failed to reorganise quickly enough after a poor clearance kick, the ball was worked wide to the left and the winger won the chase for the kick ahead into the corner. An excellent strike off the touchline saw the conversion go over and the lead went out to three points. Kendal then led by six as Penrith had a period when they got on the wrong side of the referee, conceded a string of penalties and eventually a kickable one.
With the match going into the final ten minutes the Penrith forwards took control, Michael Raine gave an object lesson in lineout jumping as they worked their way up the left touchline, Kendal were penalised twice in their 22 as the Penrith eight turned the screw and both times the ball was kicked to the corner. Raine won the ball once more as he dominated the front of the line and again the Penrith eight stormed the line, they maintained possession of the ball time after time but the defence held firm. The ball was finally released to the backs with man of the match, Jackson, immediately spotting the gap and he went for the line, made the half break and just got there, the ref gave the try after consulting his linesman and Penrith trailed by a point. Wooff was then faced with the conversion, it was not the hardest of kicks but neither was it a gimme but he held his nerve and to the great relief of the Penrith contingent the kick sailed over.
There was still time for Kendal to come back and they did their utmost, their final effort being a drop goal attempt that was low and wide. Swale again was again quickest to think, he tapped the drop out over the 22 to himself, fed the ball to his forwards who played some up the jumper stuff until it was indicated time was up. The ball was belted into touch and the celebrations could begin. A very nice end to a difficult season!