After three successive defeats against the sides slugging it out at the top of the league Penrith got the win they were after against a competitive Eccles side. It was far from easy and they had to dig deep and match them blow for blow as the Eccles forwards made life as difficult as they could on a foul day.
The weather was atrocious and far from ideal for Penrith's young top of the ground backs and the rain in the first half in particular was torrential. In the main it was left to the forwards and that was playing to the visitor's strengths.
The first half was just about as thrilling as the 0-0 half time scoreline suggests and scoring opportunities were few and far between. Both sides had chances from attacking 5m lineouts, the home side had two, the throw to the first was not straight and Tama Toomata took the second at the tail, James Hogg peeled round and almost made the line before a stray boot cannoned the ball out of the ruck and the danger was over.
Eccles caught and drove their chance and the home defence held then up but illegally in the eyes of the referee, the visitors had been causing the home pack, for once, some problems at the set scrummage so they understandably opted for a set scrum from the penalty. This proved to be a mistake as the Penrith eight destroyed them this time, shunted them off their own ball then won a penalty. Matt Allinson was able to clear his lines and again the danger was snuffed out.
Conditions rather improved in the second period and there was some better rugby played. Three minutes into the half Penrith kicked a penalty to the opposition 22, secured their ball and looked to drive their opposite numbers back when a penalty was awarded. It was clearly going to be a low scoring game so they opted for the kick at goal, conditions underfoot were not good for Allinson but he kept his concentration and slotted the kick for a 3-0 lead.
As the half wore on it was not bad to see where the game was being played, the pitch at the outset was green but the area now between half way and the Eccles 22 was slowly turning browner as Penrith penned them in their own half and turned the screw. It was the home tackling that earned the next score, hit after hit went in as Eccles tried to run the ball out of defence and they eventually won the turnover and the visitors immediately transgressed in an attempt to win back the ball and gave Allinson his second chance. Again he held his nerve and Penrith doubled their lead.
The catch and drive from the lineout brought Allinson his third chance, the Penrith eight won the ball on half way and had the Eccles forwards in reverse at a tremendous rate until they illegally brought it to a halt on the 22. The kick again was good and Penrith were now more than a score ahead at 9-0.
The visitors didn't look as if they were going to get anywhere near the home try line but two penalties conceded in quick succession saw them kick to within 5m of the line. They went for the catch and drive and this time pulled it off, the conversion went awry but they were now within a score with ten minutes left on the clock.
There was not to be a comeback as Penrith agin pinned them back in their own half for the remainder of the game as the counted the clock down. The home side never really threatened the visitors line, the nearest they came was when Jamie McNaughton at centre hit a flat ball at pace and broke into the 22 but the pass was correctly adjudged to be marginally forward. The home backs didn't get much ball in hand to attack with but the back three of Steven Cherry, Jon Fell and Kiwi, Ryan Egerton did themselves proud and coped more than capably with a barrage of high balls on a day when it would have been easier to foul up in the poor conditions.
As the game drew to a close Penrith earned another kickable penalty and Allinson kept his 100% record with his fourth kick out of four and made certain of the win. With hopefully their confidence restored Penrith travel next week to Altrincham who are one place and one win ahead of them.