Penrith continued their winning start to the season with a convincing victory over Yorkshire side Dinnington who made their first visit to Winters Park. The win was all the more satisfying as the home side were missing several of their bigger forwards and as a result struggled a little in the set scrum which gave allowed the visitors to stay in the game longer than they otherwise might have done.
Penrith kicked off and as Dinnington tried to run the ball out of their own 22 they were driven back aggressively and as a result they conceded a penalty at the breakdown within Mike Fearon's range, that chance went wide but the Cumbrians continued to press.
They went close to crossing the line and created a number of chances before finally getting the score their play deserved, a series of phases stretched the visitor's defence and Matt Allinson was eventually able to take advantage beating his opposite number on the outside to open the scoring, Fearon added the conversion and Penrith were on their way.
They added their second try half way through the first half and it came from an attacking lineout after a penalty was kicked to the corner, they won the ball and drove infield for the line, the maul was stopped when it went to ground but George Graham snipped close to the breakdown and almost made the line before the run was continued by Craig Price who made it over the line taking a couple of defenders with him.
Penrith were penalised at the restart and Dinnington kicked for the corner, this was the first possession they had had in the home 22 and they won the lineout and drove for the line but the home defence held them out and the danger looked to be over when Penrith were awarded the scrummage. The visitors won the 5m scrum against the head and ended up being held up over the line and then having their own put in to the 5m scrum. The Penrith scrummage was creaking and there was a wheel and what looked like a home boot kicking the ball out of the scrum and a penalty try was awarded.
Penrith were back on the attack and looked to extend there lead which was now reduced to five points and it came from an attacking lineout after a penalty was kicked to the corner, the ball was won by Liam Tunstall at the tail and driven infield for the line, the maul was stopped but George Graham went blind, he had all six foot eight of Callum Rowlandson on his outside and he was not going to be stopped from five yards and went over in the corner.
The visitors had a man yellow carded and Penrith looked to extend their lead against 14 men and played at pace and went through the phases but dogged defence kept them out and they led by ten points at the break which didn't really reflect their dominance.
They looked to be home and dry scoring just after half time, Allinson robbed his opposite number in midfield and the turnover ball was whipped out wide to Jamie McNaughton on the right wing who made ground before chipping ahead into space, Graham was up in support and made easy work of dribbling the ball over the line and claiming the touchdown, Fearon had missed a couple of conversions in the first half but found his range in the second and didn't miss one.
Dinnington then were awarded a penalty which they put into the corner close to the line, Penrith had had no problem defending against them in open spaces but there experienced forwards were a bit of a handful at close quarters, two attacking lineouts later and a pair of 5m scrums saw them eventually score with a pushover try, the conversion was good and the game was in the balance again at 24-14.
Penrith scored their final try when Graham took a quick penalty, the ball came left, McNaughton made the break and was held up just short and Mike Stephens was on hand to crash over. The players and backup team were disappointed to leak two late tries as Dinnington threw caution to the wind and put the ball through the hands and caught the home side off guard in a game they considered to be won. All in all they were satisfied considering the worries over lack of personnel, the lads who had come in and had done a good job and you cannot turn your nose up at a five point win.