Penrith played their first competitive game of the season taking on local rivals Upper Eden in the quarter final of the county cup on Saturday. It would have been the start of the league season but for the decision of the RFU to postpone the league for a fortnight because of the bone hard pitches in August!
This was always going to be a physical encounter and that's how the game opened up and the helter skelter start saw the visitors take the lead from a penalty head on to the posts some 35m out. The home side were then able to exert a bit of pressure and a Isaac Murray penalty to the corner gave the forwards a scoring opportunity, they secured the lineout ball and set up the driving maul and inched it forward. Patience paid off as they reset the maul three times and eventually reached the line where Lee Chapman was on hand to ground the ball, the conversion from out wide was missed but Penrith still led 5-3.
Isaac Murray was able to set up his forwards with a similar chance just minutes later with a penalty drilled into the opposite corner. Again the ball was won cleanly at the lineout and the drive for the line initiated but this time when it was held up Chapman broke off the maul and ran in from 10m out, this time the conversion was good and pulled the lead out to nine points.
The men from Kirkby Stephen kept themselves in the game with a second penalty, this time from a high tackle and then began to enjoy a bit more possession and look a bit more dangerous and eat into the slender home lead. Penrith weren't helping themselves as they were losing possession too easily and conceding a series penalties.
A number of decent chances were spurned then just before half time they scored a third try to calm the nerves, Ashton Hook fielded a kick deep into his half of the field and ran it back well only to be high tackled on the half way line, he had the penalty taken in a flash and was away, made progress to the 22 and then set up Jonah Murray. He had plenty to do and did well to make the line under pressure to claim the score.
Leading 17-6 at the break the home side looked reasonably comfortable and then again put themselves under pressure, totally unnecessarily, playing too much rugby on their own 22 they gifted the ball to the visitors. They were then defending on their own line. Eden tails were up as they stormed the line and after a number of phases breached the home defence and the lead was down to four points and the game up for grabs again.
The home side however came straight back, Ant Davies won a penalty over the ball as an Eden player hung grimly on to it, he took it immediately and set up Harley Johnson who crashed it up midfield, from the ruck the ball came left and some slick hands created the overlap and Sonny Askins, who was having a busy afternoon on the left wing, did the rest.
As the game moved into the final quarter the home side had the tie under control, their forwards were dominating the set scrums and this led to their fifth try, they opted for a scrum from a penalty 5m out and won the ball and shunted the scrum towards the line, all eyes were on the scrum when George Graham spun the ball left for Johnson to draw the last man to allow Askins in on the overlap for his second try. They then scored a sixth following the visitors' drop out from their own line, a storming run by Adam Howe playing, his 200th consecutive game, and some sharp back play saw Johnson go in at the corner for the final score.
Penrith saw out the final 10 minutes with few problems but they knew they'd been in a game and the Eden players had far from disgraced themselves, it was a good run out for both sides. Critics might argue the home side had left a try or two out there but it's a decent start for them, there's plenty to work and improve on in the fortnight before the first home league game at home against Sunderland on the 26th September