For the third game in succession Penrith have played away to a side
below them in the league and for the third time the outcome has been
the same, a defeat, a poor performance, a late rally that might have
won the game and a bonus point. The three bonus points may prove
crucial as they expect to face a five point deduction for fielding an
ineligible player at Waterloo.
One thing that wasn't the same as the two previous games was taking an
early lead, it was Middlesbrough who took an early lead, after missing
a second minute penalty attempt they put their next penalty into the
corner and their forwards drove over from the lineout, a conversion
from wide out gave them a seven point advantage.
Penrith came back strongly and won their fair share of possession in
the first half, they chose to run a penalty under the home posts and
failed to make anything of it, captain Mike Raine had one of his better
games and got in behind the home defence with typical strong runs on
three occasions but the move could not be finished off. The home side
also had their chances but with a couple of minutes to go to the break
Penrith did level the scores, they won good lineout ball on the right,
the ball was spun quickly to the left and when play was swung back
again winger James Ellar found himself in acres of space and was able
to pick his way through what cover there was to score, Steve Wood's
conversion evened things up. On the stroke of half time the home side
were successful with a penalty to put their noses back in front and
then
Wood was clean through after a clean break but was unable to link with
the support when a try looked to go begging.
Even at 10-7 down Penrith looked more than capable of claiming the win,
although the home side's set piece lineouts and scrums were rock solid
the visitors were playing the better rugby when in possession and
seemed to have a try or two up their sleeves. As the game wore on
Penrith's problem was lack of possession, their set plays in the first
half weren't as secure as they might have been but in the second half
they dried up all together, they spent most of their time defending and
playing rugby without the ball is not easy. Although Wood had levelled
the scores again with a long range penalty on a rare foray into the
home half Penrith were coming under increasing pressure continually
defending and were giving more and more penalties away, because of this
they were playing deep in their own half and eventually Middlesbrough
converted a penalty shot for a three point lead.
The game looked to be up with a couple of minutes to go when they
conceded another easy penalty, surprisingly it went wide and from the
22 dropout Wood chipped short , it fell straight into the arms of a
Middlesbrough player but it was dislodged in the tackle and Penrith had
some rare ball, in their only real flowing move of the match Raine and
Ellar made good ground for their first incursion into the home 22 in
the second half, the ball went wide to the right and good hands by Ryan
Johnson and Gavin Cartmel put replacement winger Simon Davidson in
space and he ran in the try wide out for a lead they barely deserved.
The 80 Minutes were now up and Penrith just had to hang on, they
couldn't quite manage and in the seventh minute of added time conceded
a penalty in front of the posts which the home side duly converted to
win the game by the narrowest of margins. The bonus point and no
injuries were about the limit for anyone trying to be optimistic, in
can only be hoped one or two injured played are ready for the
Rossendale game as the side are going to have to "man up" as the
visitors this Saturday will provide a real stern physical test.