Penrith further eased any relegation worries they had with their second
win in two weeks at bottom of the table Rochdale. The score suggests it
was quite easy but that was not the case, for an hour Rochdale were
very competitive and Penrith struggled to break them down and struggled
to put their game together as they would have liked. Games however last
80 minutes and in last quarter of an hour Penrith's superiority finally
told and they ran away with it. It was though,a very frustrating hour
for travelling supporters and the coaching staff but it did come right
in the end.
Part of the problem could have been Penrith scored too early and too
easily, Joe Nattrass and James Sanderson successfully chased down a
Steve Wood kick and won a scrum in the home 22. The ball came to Mike
Raine at No8, he picked the ball and went blind, slipped the it to Paul
Newton who drew the winger and put Wood in unopposed, easy peasy.
If it looked as if it was going to be a walk in the park it was far
from the truth, the home side came back with all guns blazing and
forced the Cumbrians back into their 22 and put them under some
pressure. Penrith were pleased to force the winger into touch in the
corner and have the throw to the lineout, David Preston who had a good
afternoon, won the ball at the front and the pack drove away from their
own line, somehow they managed to lose possession and by the time the
home side moved the ball wide to the opposite wing they had an overlap
and leveled the scores at 5-5.
There was little else to report in the first half, Rochdale saw a lot
of the ball as the visitors struggled to put any phases of play
together, they were guilty of trying to score every time they got the
ball instead of building pressure and gaining momentum, the handling
left something to be desired and the decision making was not good.
The second half saw things slowly improve, the home side found it more
and more difficult to get their hands on the ball and Penrith spent
increasing amounts of time in their 22. The forwards thought they had
taken the lead when they drove the ball over the line from a 5m lineout
only for the ball to have been held up. With quarter of an hour to go
the pressure finally told, Raine broke from a scrum 5m out, Gary
Hodgson carried on the drive and fed prop Andrew Irving who spun out of
the tackle and grounded the ball under the posts. Woods conversion went
over, his side's confidence now grew and they were all over their hosts
like a rash and the tries flowed.
Ed Swale got away down the wing, beat his man nicely and as the cover
came across to him in the 22 fed the ball back inside with an overhead
pass for captain Raine to romp in. All out attack won a lineout 5m out
and the catch and drive forced the home pack over their own line and
new hooker Ian McDowell claimed the try. Play was now well spread and
the final try came wide on the left when Raine found centre Sanderson
on the wing he had the pace to beat the last defender and score from
30m out.
Penrith travelled hoping for a win and a four try bonus point and this
is exactly what they got, not perhaps with the ease or the style they
might have liked but they got it none the less. Much better than the
four match sequence of defeats they have just endured and hopefully a
useful stepping stone to a win against Beverley this weekend.