Penrith were desperately disappointed to lose a second match this season to Kendal by the closest of margins in a game they dominated for long periods and played most of the rugby. In two games this season they have lost out by an aggregate of three points and for all their efforts have only two losing bonus points to their name compared with Kendal's eight points for two wins, Kendal though play the Kendal way, it isn't pleasing to the eye but it is functional and they took their chances where Penrith failed to make the best of theirs.
The biggest influence on the game was the wind which was blowing diagonally across the pitch and in Kendal's favour in the first half. Both sides had the wind to thank for drying out a very wet pitch over the previous 48 hours but it was difficult to manage when blowing strongly across the field. The quality of rugby played in the conditions was a credit to both sides as neither team reverted to kick and rush tactics.
Most of those watching expected the first half to be played in the home 22 as the visitors used the wind to pen them in but that is not how it turned out at all, for long periods Penrith played upwind in the Kendal half. They certainly looked more like scoring and Jamie McNaughton had two good runs up the right wing where he was bundled into touch just short of the line.
Into the second quarter Kendal did have two reasonable penalty chances but the strength of the wind took both attempts across the face of the posts. Kendal had surprisingly not threatened the Penrith line but on the half hour against the run of play a telling tackle was missed in midfield by the home three quarters and Kendal had a rare clean break which they took full advantage of, finishing it off nicely in the corner.
Penrith continued to press with their stand off Matt Allinson mastering the wind rather better than his opposite number and striking some well placed touch line kicks from penalties, he did have a very optimistic shot at goal into the wind which was well short and when the home side turned around at the break only five points down the game was in the balance.
Penrith started the second half well with the forwards warming to their task, the visitors were penalised for illegal bringing the forward drive to a halt, the penalty was head on to the posts some 20 yards out and Allinson hit the penalty. The Kendal restart failed to go 10 metres and from the scrum in the centre of the field Kendal were penalised again and from distance Mike Fearon attempted the penalty. The kick had the legs but not the accuracy.
In the first half Kendal had not tried to use the wind to any great extent whereas Penrith did and it was to prove their undoing. The wind took, what initially looked like good touch finders, straight into touch and over the deadball line and play was brought back to where the ball was kicked. This gave Kendal field position and the put in to the scrum and from one such opportunity they played the best rugby of the afternoon to string numerous plays together, shift the ball backwards and forwards across the pitch and use their forwards to inch towards the home try line and eventually score in the corner. The conversion was wayward in the wind but this put them two scores ahead as the game went into the final quarter.
Penrith then mounted an assault on the Kendal line and spent a deal of time in their 22 aided and abetted by a string of penalties from an increasingly desperate defence. There were a number of warnings of a yellow card but one didn't actually materialise as Penrith pressed, they did have several attempts at drives over the Kendal line from penalties kicked to the corner. They were over the line with the ball held up, the drive was stopped illegally on one occasion but they did manage to score from one. The drive was halted and the ball came to the backs, McNaughton hit the line off the blind side wing as the field opened up in front of him, the cover has sucked in and with his left winger positioned wide out he chipped the ball into the far corner. Phil Armstrong fresh on the wing as a replacement won the race to the corner to make the touchdown and his side were within two points. Allinson's touch line conversion shot which would have levelled the scores was narrowly wide but Penrith still had plenty of time left to claim the game.
They were straight on the attack again as Kendal hung on for grim death and play, was again, deep in the visitors 22. A little more patience may have seen them home but it was a case of so near and so far. Their best chance was a final penalty shot, it would be difficult with the cross wind and they could have kicked once more to the corner but Allinson took it on. It couldn't have been much closer but came back off the post, by such margins are games won and lost! The Penrith chasers almost got to the rebound first but Kendal were just able to secure possession and clear their lines.
The efforts of either side could not be questioned as Penrith pressed right to the end and Kendal resisted and it was a measure of the relief of both the visiting supporters and players as they reacted to the final whistle as if they had won the league.