Penrith entertained unbeaten top of the table West Hartlepool on Saturday, they were not only unbeaten but in every one of the seven games they had won they had picked up a four try bonus point.
Penrith were short of four front line players all injured, notably half backs George Graham and Mike Mike Fearon but also Jon Fell and Ryan Johnson. They were also missing one or two others who could have filled in, Hartlepool were also suffering from a rash of absentees putting the blame on school half term.
The visitors showed no sign of being short as they started the game strongly,in the first five minutes they forced a 5m scrum and from a penalty an attacking lineout 5m out, going close on both occasions. Penrith transgressed a second time and this time the visitors took the easy kick at goal and the home side were perhaps fortunate to be only three points down.
It was then Penrith's turn to have the upper hand, Hartlepool made a hash of the restart and lost the ball and were then penalised as they tried regain possession at the breakdown. Matt Allinson who had taken over kicking duties from the injured Fearon was wide with this chance but Penrith continued to press. Strong runs by Callum Rowlandson and Harlan Corrie gained them good field position, a penalty conceded by the visitors and a kick to the corner gave them an attacking 5m lineout but they could not take advantage.
Corrie went close when Liam Tustall took good ball and the tail of the lineout on the 22 and released him, he powered through several tackles before being hauled down just short of the line. Allinson was then able to level the scores when the referee spotted a high tackle on the Hartlepool 22 head on to the posts, this time he made no mistake and the ball sailed between the posts.
Corrie took the restart kick and Allinson cleared the ball long, there was then three long punts in a bout of aerial ping pong before Jamie McNaughton fielded the ball on his 22. He was under a little bit of of pressure as the chasers bore down on him but he has quick feet and after a couple of jinks he was in open space and the field opened up in front of him. He sped clear of the defenders with hardly a finger being laid on him and crossed the halfway line and then into the 22, he then unselfishly gave James Boustead, on the overlap the scoring pass and he stepped back inside the cover to go in next to the posts.
Allinson's conversion extended the lead and a penalty after good Penrith team play pushed the lead out to ten points and they turned round at the break 13-3 to the good. They looked reasonably well set at this stage as the visiting forwards were struggling with the pace of the game and did not look as if they could really threaten.
That did not prove to be the case as possession dried up for the home side as they started to struggle in the set pieces. This enabled the visitors to slow the game down to what almost seemed like snails pace, their physio would cover more ground than most of their forwards in the second half as he seemed to be on the pitch at every break in play as someone or other was laid out in agony.
As a result Penrith had to live on scraps and spent more and more time defending just as they had the week before at Pocklington. Early in the second half Hartlepool manufactured a drop goal chance and that ate into the lead but looked to be no more than an annoyance at the time.
Penrith struck back and a good run by Dan Morgan and a penalty conceded at the breakdown allowed them to kick to the corner. They caught and drove from the lineout and got to the line but couldn't ground it to the satisfaction of the referee, there was then a bit of a fracas, they were penalised and Hartlepool cleared their lines and that would be the home side's last serious scoring chance.
Hartlepool then very slowly turned the screw and with five minutes to go got the try they were looking for, their winger went in at the corner and the defenders couldn't keep him out wide to make the conversion a difficult one. He went round behind the posts, the conversion was a formality and the scores were level.
The visitors then did have a difficult penalty shot to steal the game but it went well wide. Their slow motion tactics in the second half didn't make for attractive rugby but they were very effective and made for a very frustrating 40 minutes for the home supporters.
The result was not a disaster but at the final whistle it was clear the travelling support was much happier than the home. Penrith have just got to keep winning against the sides lower down the table as the teams around them start to play one another and they will drop points. They could take one real positive from the game, with a shortage of personnel colts scrum half, 17 year old Tommy Broadhead was on the bench, he got on with 20 minutes to go and did not put a foot wrong. Another promising youngster coming up through the ranks.