Penrith were disappointed to get within ten minutes of beating table
topping Stockport only losing their lead at the death, on reflection
though after the problems earlier in the year with injuries and loss of
form to have been able to put themselves in a position to beat a side
that has only lost one game all season was an achievement in itself. If
this game had been played a month or six weeks ago it would have been
case of damage limitation, to have run them so close was real progress.
Penrith knew they had to be at their best and they did start the better
of the two sides, they took the lead with a Steve Wood penalty when the
visitors strayed offside, had Paul Newton had more luck with the bounce
from a clever chip through it might have been a try rather than a
penalty.
Penrith then made their only real glaring mistake of the game, Wood had
a kick charged down on half way, Stockport's big No8 gathered the ball
on the 10m line and then pushed and barged his way to the line without
any aggressive attempt to stop him, he was even allowed to run round
behind the posts!
The conversion put the visitors ahead but to their credit the loss of
the lead did not dampen the home spirit or effort, they continued to
press and they scored from the restart when the visitors were penalised
for not releasing in the tackle, Wood's penalty brought them within a
point and his third shortly after eased them into the lead. There was
nothing between the two teams but the league leaders did up their
effort and as a result Penrith got themselves penalised as their
discipline slipped under pressure. Stockport kicked a penalty to the
home 22, won the lineout and their pack drove for the line, their size
and strength eventually told and they shunted over in the corner for an
unconverted try and the lead changed hands again.
Penrith regained the advantage just before the break and it was down to
the efforts of their captain Mike Raine. Penrith were pleased to be
scrummaging on their own line after the pace of Mike Hawley had saved
the day as he caught their winger in the corner with the line at his
mercy. Raine broke from No8, slipped a couple of tackles and got as far
as half way before he was stopped, the visitors were penalised at the
maul and Wood's line kick gave his side a lineout in the 22. Rob Dawson
took the lineout ball and the forwards rumbled for the line, there was
a couple of drives up the fringes before the ball came again to Raine
who slid and spun out of two tackles to score. Wood's conversion gave
the home side a 16-12 half time lead which they were good value for.
The second half was more a battle of attrition, the two side exchanged
penalties before the game entered its final phase, Penrith had created
chances to extend their lead. Hawley was unlucky when he hacked through
but the ball did not bouce his way, both Raine and James Sanderson were
in behind the first line of defence but could not finish. As the game
moved into the final quarter Stockport showed why they are top of the
league, they did not panic, played the percentages, kept it tight and
played deeper and deeper in Penrith territory. The home side defended
manfully with everyone willing to lie their bodies on the line but they
defended ever deeper and ended up trying to stem the tide on their own
line. This could only last so long and with five minutes left on the
clock the inevitable happened and Stockport crossed and the lead
changed for the fifth time.
The game ended with the visitors pressing for a fourth try bonus point
and Penrith hanging on for their losing bonus point, it would have been
a travisty of justice if Stockport had scored and they didn't. Often
when you play the better sides it brings out the best in you and this
was certainly the case here, the whote team played well but Dawson was
highly influential in his second game back after injury, the freshly
shorn Ryan Johnson had a huge game and captain Mike Raine had his best
game of the season. If they all play as well next week relegation
threatened Midlesbrough will have real problems