Penrith welcomed third in the table Blackburn to Winters Park on Saturday who were on the back of a five game unbeaten run, the home side clearly had their work cut out and early on they had to show all their defensive qualities to keep the Lancashire side out. The visitors showed why they were where they were in the league as they attacked at pace, recycling the ball quickly, putting phase after phase together moving the ball with urgency and retaining possession well.
The home side defended well and rebuffed this initial onslaught and then got into the game themselves and were able to open the scoring, they kicked a penalty to the visitors' 22 but then made a bit of a mess of the lineout as the ball was overthrown and landed in midfield. Scott Lancaster, playing his 100th game for the side, was able to claim possession and the visitors were penalised in the melee. George Graham was off like a shot with a quickly taken penalty and almost made the line before being hauled down, there were a number of drives for the line before the ball came to big Joe Kirkup who shrugged off several would be tacklers to power his way over.
The Cumbrians soon extended their lead, some quick hands on the short side of a ruck in the home half set James Newman off up the right wing, the ball came back inside and strong running, first from Andy Rogers then Kirkup took the ball up to the 22, Graham made more ground and the home pack arrived to batter the line, it was Ant Davies who eventually forced his way over from close range for a try his hard work and selfless play deserved.
Blackburn weren't taking this lying down and came back strongly and mounted a real assault on the home line from the restart. The home defence defended 39 attacking phases in their own 22 as play went from side to side as both hard straight running and the width of the pitch were attempted. Penrith were eventually penalised and the visitors opted for a set scrum deep in the 22, again the home defence held firm but again were penalised. A set scrum was again taken and this time some slick handling saw the winger go over in the corner.
The home side almost struck back straight away but following a lineout in the corner got the ball over the line but were adjudged to have been held up. They did get another score before the break, good work from Archie Rattray breaking from a scrum on the 22 and then Adam Howe saw the visitors penalised under their own posts and Rob Coward knocked the penalty over and his side led 15-5 at the break.
The start of the second half was relatively even but the home side scored two tries in quick succession midway through the half that swung the game. A penalty was kicked into the Blackburn 22 and the Cumbrians won the ball at the tail, Rogers came steaming round on the charge only to be stopped in his tracks, the defenders were penalised at the breakdown and Graham again was quick to react. He had the penalty taken and made ground then moved the ball right to Davies who had Lee Chapman unmarked outside him, he drew his man and Chapman took the pass to stroll in.
The Winters Park men then had a scrum on their own 22, Graham fed the ball direct to Liam McAvoy playing at inside centre who was having an influential game, he simply burst through the first line of defence and made half way then took out the last man slipping the ball to Isaac Murray who hit it at speed. He showed some real pace to outrun the cover to score in the right hand corner.
Penrith now led by 20 points and still there was no hint of capitulation from the visitors who almost ran themselves to a stand still trying to get back into the game. They scored a second try after driving a maul some 20m deep into the home 22, drawing the defence, then moved the ball wide to score in the corner.
Coward then took the chance to extend the home lead with a simple penalty attempt and the visitors continued to run the ball at every opportunity. They scored a third try with seven minutes left on the clock to close the deficit to 11 points. They ended the game on the Penrith line, a fourth try would have given them a bonus point and would also have earned them a losing bonus point but the home defence again held firm and they had to travel back south with nothing.
This was a win built on excellent defence and pure bloody-mindedness, if they can reproduce this kind of form in the weeks and months to come they will climb the table and worry some of the higher placed opposition.