Penrith did what they had to do against bottom of the table, winless Wheatley Hills, they dispatched them with clinical efficiency. Some critics may have thought they should have scored more points as it took a while for them to get into their stride but you cannot argue with an 11 try bonus point win.
The home side looked to open the game up from the off spinning the ball at every opportunity but to begin with they made too many mistakes and allowed the visitors to get themselves into the game as they had plenty of possession gifted to them. They also had good field position and made Penrith defend deep in their own territory, they looked to attack close to the breakdown using their forwards but as soon as they moved the ball Penrith were able to pick them off.
Despite their eagerness to move the ball the home side got their first score from a forward drive, a penalty was kicked to the corner and they won the lineout and drove for the line and Harlan Corrie claimed the try as the maul reached the line. After a high tackle on Mike Fearon they repeated the drill and kicked the penalty to the corner, this time the drive was brought to ground just short of the line and the ball fed to Liam Tunstall on the blind side who threaded his way over. Fearon added both conversions and Penrith were 14-0 up at the end of the first quarter.
They were struggling to really string their game together but were still too much of a handful for the visitors especially when the ball was in the open spaces, they scored again after a messy piece of play when the ball was turned over three times in quick succession. When the ball was spilt for a second time by the Wheatley backs Jamie McNaughton flicked it up for Ben Littleton who found himself in acres of space with a clear run to the line, there was no one quick enough in the visitors backs to catch him and he ran in unopposed.
Penrith scored a nice try on the half hour to claim the bonus point, Jon Fell hit the line off the blind side wing going left and created the overlap, the move was halted on the 22 and the ball fed back into midfield where it was run in by Tunstall, he found Fearon who made a clean break but was hauled down just inches short of the line. The ball was moved left again and Littleton just had room to put McNaughton in at the corner.
Penrith turned around 24-0 up, often with a win and bonus point secured games like this can go well and truly off the boil in the second half but this one didn't, the Cumbrians continued to turn the screw and racked up seven converted tries after the break.
Tries came at regular intervals, a bullocking run from Phil Armstrong set up the next one, he almost made the line between the posts but when he was held up Mike Stephens was on hand to charge over. Littleton claimed his second try after a series of phases and plays off the training ground which created the overlap for him to speed in.
They then scored two tries from scrums in their own 22, Mike Raine and Ed Swale took the ball up the blind side for the first before the ball was whipped quickly left with Littleton away on the wing breaking into the Wheatley half, McNaughton was in support on the inside pointing for the ball to be kicked ahead of him, Littleton obliged with a tidy chip into the space which McNaughton scooped up at pace and scored. The second came when McNaughton and Littleton combined again to make ground wide on the left, Matt Allinson carried the move on before Josh Dowson fresh off the bench finished it off sprinting in under the posts.
After some unsavoury play where Littleton was tackled high and then Dowson punched a couple of 30 man melees occured before the visitors had one man red carded and another yellowed. It didn't do their cause any good, Dowson ran in another try from open play where his pace was too much for them, McNaughton and Littleton then ran the ball from a scrum on their own line for Littleton to score his third try of the day and his 15th of the season.
They rounded off the scoring after Fell looked to have gone in at the corner but he had a foot in touch, from the lineout Dan Richardson stole the ball, Penrith drove for the line and they were all delighted when Ryan Banks came up with the ball and claimed the try
Penrith will have much more difficult days than this if they are going to finish the season at the top of the table but they did what they had to. They have got to make sure they do not slip up away from home, starting at Dinnington next week, because if the whole squad is committed to the cause there's no reason why they should not be there or thereabouts come April.