Penrith played their game at Guisborough in atrocious conditions, in what was a crazy afternoon of weather. It was dry when they arrived an hour and a quarter before kick off but it soon began to rain and quickly became torrential and what was a bone dry pitch at the outset was covered in standing water. The referee was seriously considering abandoning the game and would have done so had not the overhead lightening subsided.
The game began in heavy rain with plenty of water underfoot which made keeping your feet and handling the ball a tricky proposition, Penrith needed a four try win to keep any promotion hopes alive and the conditions were a leveler and did not help their cause.
They did, however, unlike some recent away performances, have the correct mental approach and show the right attitude. They couldn't have made a better start, within a couple of minutes they had kicked a penalty to the corner and looked like scoring from the lineout when the home side illegally stopped the driving maul. They opted for a 5m scrum and won steady ball and the try from the pick and go from No8 was meat and drink for Mike Raine and they were up and running.
They had their second try after running back a clearance kick, Mike Fearon and Phil Armstrong made ground before the ball came to Harlan Corrie who shrugged off several tacklers and then powered over. Allinson added the third on twenty minutes beating several tacklers after Armstrong had bulldozed his way into the 22.
There was then a lull as the home side got into the game, their fullback was their best player by a distance and he made a nuisance of himself throughout and carved out a clever try for the hosts. Penrith were playing the better rugby but couldn't find the fourth score. No one could be singled out for handling mistakes as the conditions were horrendous.There was a worry the game could be abandoned after 60 minutes and the result stand and the bonus point would go begging if they didn't manage another score.
The managements nerves were eased just before half time when Fearon put a kick through and chased hard, defending this situation was not easy as the ball came to an abrupt stop in the standing water and Fearon and Armstorng got to the ball with the defence, managed to hack in on and then on again over the line where Armstrong fell on it for the fourth try.
That was mission accomplished but the Cumbrians stuck to their task in the second half and came up with three more tries. Dan Richardson got a very well deserved one when he took the ball himself in a lineout 20m out and his strength and determination saw him force his way over.
George Graham showed how sharp he is when the home side won a scrum on their own line, the ball squirted out and Graham was much quicker than his opposite number and dotted the ball down for the try.
The last try was probably the best, Richardson broke from No8 in his own 22, the movement was continued by Graham and then Fearon before he was brought down on the 22. Armstrong was up in support and scooped the ball and powered over under the posts.
The game was concluded in bright sunshine but Penrith could be pleased with their efforts on a very difficult afternoon, they had set out their stall and done exactly what had been asked of them. The race for second spot is well and truly on and although West Hartlepool are the clear favourites there is still a chance