Penrith lost a second game away to lower league opposition and again
they only had themselves to blame, despite two late changes had they
played to their potential throughout the game they should have won
reasonably easily. To their credit Sandal got up a head of steam,
scored four tries and deserved their win.
Penrith suffered a set back when hooker Andrew Macnamara and
influential scrum half Paul Newton both had to cry off after the side
had been selected on Thursday evening, in came Tom Mooney and Simon
Davidson and Davidson had an excellent return to the club at scrum half
showing no little skill and courage, they were also not helped by the
fact they were in effect travelling with only two replacements instead
of three.
They started well enough, a quickly taken penalty saw Ed Swale make a
break and his chip ahead from half way and the chase by James Ellar and
Gav Cartmel saw them gain possession deep in the home 22, when the ball
came to Steve Wood he chipped it accurately to the right winger Joe
Nattrass and he gathered to score, Wood converted off the touchline.
Things then went badly downhill for the rest of the first half, whether
they thought it was going to be too easy or the home side did improve
massively was not obvious but the longer the half went on the deeper
Penrith played in their own half and the more pressure they put
themselves under. They conceded three tries and a penalty to be 20 - 7
down at the break, the home forwards drove over after a quick tap
penalty, a number of would be tacklers missed their strong running
right winger who went in at the corner and then the pack were driven
back at the set scrummage for a pushover try.
The second half didn't start much better and was pretty flat and when a
Wood miss pass was intercepted on half way and a fourth try scored the
writing looked to be on the wall, an embarrassing 40 or 50 point defeat
looked on the cards. The body language was poor with a couple of
players not going behind the posts for the conversion but the Cumbrians
kept grafting and did eventually wear the home side down, a lineout was
won in the home 22 following an excellent long Wood penalty kick to the
corner. The forwards showed a lot of strenth and patience and drove
this way and that before Gary Hodgson forced his way over in the corner.
Their second try gave the visitors some belief and they now came at the
home side with some vigour, a Hodgson break in midfield took play to
the 22, the ruck was won and Wood's miss pass found Cartmel who found
himself up against two forwards in the centre and he left them for
dead. The conversion pulled Penrith to within six points for a bonus
point and a converted try needed to win the game with ten minutes to
go. They were pulled back twice for forward passes when looking
dangerous wide out and the chance was lost as the home pack played
"keep ball" in the final minutes.
It was a disappointing outcome but it was a lot better than it might
have been, at 25 - 7 down heads looked to have dropped but to their
credit they came back with a bang and Sandal were hanging grimly on and
were mightily relieved at the final whistle. With injuries and changes
there were six changes to the side that beat Sandal at home so that is
six players getting vital National League experience and they didn't
fall too far short, which can only be good for the future.