Penrith travelled to Wilmslow in determined mood, they knew their poorest performance of the season was against them at home back in November and they were keen to give a much better account of themselves this time round. They had been "nilled" at Winters Park conceding 34 points and five tries and were a poor second on the day.

They started much better than that on Saturday and were in their hosts' faces from the start and within two minutes had points on the board. As they moved the ball left down the back line the home defence's concentration was on the ever dangerous Kris Bratton at outside centre and they left room for Mike Fearon, no slouch himself, to make a clean outside break on the home 10m line, sprint into the 22, draw the cover and release Jamie McNaughton into the corner. Fearon then converted off the touchline and put his side seven points to the good.

The home side are not third in the league, 20 plus points in front of Penrith and with a host of four try bonus points for nothing and they came back hard at the Cumbrians. They kicked a penalty to the visitor's line and had a series of 5m attacking lineouts, the Penrith defence was immense but they conceded too many penalties for the referee's liking and Harlan Corrie got the team's yellow card as he was the last one to offend. The Penrith pack were down to seven and Wilmslow took immediate advantage and from the penalty kicked to the corner, won the lineout and drove the maul over the line for their opening try. The conversion was good and the home kicker kicked all four conversions, two from wide out, for a 100% record which would prove pivotal in the final analysis.

Penrith were without the services of Corrie for a further 10 minutes as a result of his carding and the home side struck again before he could re-enter the fray. The score was again from an attacking lineout but this time they used their backs who ran with purpose and although the Penrith threes contained them well for most of the afternoon this time a solitary missed tackle resulted in an easy try.

With Penrith back to a full complement of players they were able to exert some pressure on the home side and Fearon's boot got them back into the game. McNaughton, Ryan Egerton and Jon Fell ran back a clearance kick and when Fell was not released after being tackled the tackler was penalised and Fearon was faced with a shot at goal from distance. After striking the earlier conversion sweetly he took it on and it sailed over.

Just before the break Bratton created mayhem in the Wilmslow rearguard as he beat his own man and a couple of others and their scrambling defence conceded another penalty, Fearon's radar was again spot on and he pulled his side to within a point at 14-13 as the half ended.

Club Captain Tama Toomata took the field for the second half as he returned to the side after a rib injury and at once made his presence felt. Penrith were close to getting their noses in front, Matt Allinson put in a raking cross field punt which was chased well and the two defenders got themselves in a pickle and were penalised for crossing. This time Fearon's effort was marginally wide, his only failure of the afternoon.

There was nothing between the efforts of two sides as the second half unfolded and they both created chances but it was the home side who were more clinical and twice worked the ball well to stretch the visitor's defence and cover and score in the right hand corner. Penrith had their chances but an overthrown lineout ball and a knock on cost them dear and as the game moved into the final quarter they were three scores behind.

This did not blunt their efforts however and they went close to scoring after the hard working Mike Stephens was able to steal a ball that squirted out of a home scrum. Toomata made ground into the home 22 and when the ball came right McNaughton was able to manufacture a little bit of room for Fell wide out and he fell literally just inches short.

Penrith continued to press and when awarded a penalty 5m out took the scrum option, they had the upper hand in the set scrum and had their opposite numbers on the back foot and they were penalised again. This time James Hogg at No8 took the tap and went for the line, he was hauled down but when the ball was moved away from the breakdown it came to Corrie and he powered his way over from a yard or so out. Fearon added the conversion to bring them within two scores.

As time wore on Penrith had the better of things as the home forwards badly ran out of steam and were using every trick in the book to slow the game with someone down with an injury or cramp at every stoppage. The home side were still a threat on the break but it was Penrith who looked the more dangerous. They had another set scrum when awarded a penalty on the home line but this time couldn't take advantage. As the game went into added time they had another penalty close to the home line but this time went for the kick at goal. They still needed two scores to win and the three points from the penalty would earn them a losing bonus point if they didn't manage to score again. Fearon held his nerve and slotted the kick and his side then struggled manfully to find a further score as the clock ticked down but they couldn't quite manage. The relief of hanging on was evident as the home side celebrated the final whistle but it was a game that could and probably should have been won.

The physical effort and bravery could not be questioned but if they'd been a bit more street wise with a more clinical edge things could have been different.