Penrith were pleased to see the Davidson Park pitch in good nick when they arrived in Keswick after a very wet week. The clouds then parted, the drizzle stopped and the sun came out, the surface held up well which all suited the visitor's game and they made the most of it.
The tone of the match was set in the first couple of minutes, Penrith sent the ball deep from the kick off and a home forward looked to drive it out of his 22, he was stopped dead in his tracks by Archie Rattray and then driven back into his 22 faster than he'd come out of it. Then at the first set scrum the home forwards were unceremoniously heaved off their own ball and didn't win any meaningful ball from the scrums until the final quarter when, because a lack of fit front row forwards, the scrums were uncontested.
Penrith's forwards completely dominated the scrum and in the fourth minute, from a 5m scrum, this paid dividends as they eased their opposition over their own line and No8 Sam Wilson claimed the score. Four minutes later the home forwards were again shunted off their own ball, the ball came to Mike Fearon who caught the home backs on the back foot, made the initial break then exchanged passes with Jay Rossi before going in under the posts.
Keswick then made a bit of headway and gained decent field position courtesy of a couple of penalties, they then got another which was nicely converted to claw back three points. Penrith continued to press and from a scrum in the home 22 looked to work the blindside, No8 Wilson broke and fed scrum half George Graham who looked to draw the last man and put Jamie McNaughton in at the corner. It worked nicely until the home winger slapped the scoring pass down and got a yellow card for his troubles, while he spent the next 10 minutes on the touchline his opposite number McNaughton ran in three tries.
The first was a carbon copy of the previous move from the scrum, Wilson to Graham and in at the corner. The home forwards got to the restart but were penalised, Graham had the penalty taken and was off before anyone reacted. He was faced with the last defender with McNaughton on his shoulder and slipped him the ball to score. McNaughton's third score was a team effort, the ball was spun left to Fraser Nicolson who made ground before coming back left and Andy Muir, having a great game back at his old club, provided McNaughton with the scoring pass.
The visitors again scored from the restart and it was Matty Boustead, off the bench for Nick Dudson, who took the scoring pass from James Thompson after some excellent teamwork, that was the fourth try in 11 minutes and the game well and truly put to bed. On the stroke of half time Graham took advantage of another home scrum on their 22 which disintegrated and stole the ball to run the 20m to the posts.
Penrith led 41-3 at the break and continued to press as the second half started, after five minutes they were awarded a penalty try as the home forwards attempted to thwart another pushover try. After another five minutes young hooker Aaron Cavaghan, off the bench at half time, scored the try as his pack won a lineout 10m out and drove the maul to the line. Graham grabbed a second try taking advantage as another home scrum, this time on their own line, disintegrated and the ball ran lose.
In the final quarter the game as a contest was over and just petered out, Keswick, who never stopped trying, finally got a try from a cross kick that their winger won in the air but the visitors had the final say when a flowing move was finished when James Thompson put Wilson away wide on the right and he shrugged off the last defender to score their 11th try.
Penrith look forward to playing Westoe next up and will hope that not all the backs who were withdrawn during the game are unfit, Dudson, Rossi and Arran Pamphilon all picked up knocks.
Penrith were pleased to see the Davidson Park pitch in good nick when they arrived in Keswick after a very wet week. The clouds then parted, the mizzle stopped and the sun came out, the surface held up well which all suited the visitor's game and they made the most of it.
The tone of the match was set in the first couple of minutes, Penrith sent the ball deep from the kick off and a home forward looked to drive it out of his 22, he was stopped dead in his tracks by Archie Rattray and then driven back into his 22 faster than he'd come out of it. Then at the first set scrum the home forwards were unceremoniously heaved off their own ball and didn't win any meaningful ball from the scrums until the final quarter when, because a lack of fit front row forwards, the scrums were uncontested.
Penrith's forwards completed dominated the scrum and in the fourth minute, from a 5m scrum, this paid dividends as they eased their opposition over their own line and No8 Sam Wilson claimed the score. Four minutes later the home forwards were again shunted off their own ball, the ball came to Mike Fearon who caught the home backs on the back foot, made the initial break then exchanged passes with Jay Rossi before going in under the posts.
Keswick then made a bit of headway and gained decent field position courtesy of a couple of penalties, they then got another which was nicely converted to claw back three points. Penrith continued to press and from a scrum in the home 22 looked to work the blindside, No8 Wilson broke and fed scrum half George Graham who looked to draw the last man and put Jamie McNaughton in at the corner. It worked nicely until the home winger slapped the scoring pass down and got a yellow card for his troubles, while he spent the next 10 minutes on the touchline his opposite number McNaughton ran in three tries.
The first was a carbon copy of the previous move from the scrum, Wilson to Graham and in at the corner. The home forwards got to the restart but were penalised, Graham had the penalty taken and was off before anyone reacted. He was faced with the last defender with McNaughton on his shoulder and slipped him the ball to score. McNaughton's third score was a team effort, the ball was spun left to Fraser Nicolson who made ground before coming back left and Andy Muir, having a great game back at his old club, provided McNaughton with the scoring pass.
The visitors again scored from the restart and it was Matty Boustead, off the bench for Nick Dudson, who took the scoring pass from James Thompson after some excellent teamwork, that was the fourth try in 11 minutes and the game well and truly put to bed. On the stroke of half time Graham took advantage of another home scrum on their 22 which disintegrated and stole the ball to run the 20m to the posts.
Penrith led 41-3 at the break and continued to press as the second half started, after five minutes they were awarded a penalty try as the home forwards attempted to thwart another pushover try. After another five minutes young hooker Aaron Cavaghan, off the bench at half time, scored the try as his pack won a lineout 10m out and drove the maul to the line. Graham grabbed a second try taking advantage as another home scrum, this time on their own line, disintegrated and the ball ran lose.
In the final quarter the game as a contest was over and just petered out, Keswick, who never stopped trying, finally got a try from a cross kick that their winger won in the air but the visitors had the final say when a flowing move was finished when James Thompson put Wilson away wide on the right and he shrugged off the last defender to score their 11th try.
Penrith look forward to playing Westoe next up and will hope that not all the backs who were withdrawn during the game are unfit, Dudson, Rossi and Arran Pamphilon all picked up knocks.