Penrith came back from Newcastle with the bonus point win they set out for but it didn't quite come in the manner they expected, they ended up sharing ten tries with Northern who are struggling at the bottom of the table. It was only the goal kicking that separated the two sides and they had stand in place kicker George Graham to thank for that.
Penrith's away form of late has been shaky to say the least and they started inauspiciously when the home kick off bounced into touch without any of the forwards lying a hand on it. The home side, with a strong breeze at their backs, then had the better of opening minutes as they spent time in the Penrith 22 but didn't seriously threaten the line. It was the visitors who opened the scoring after they got a bit of possession, a clean Ross Jackson break saw them make ground into the opposition half where they were then awarded a penalty that they kicked to the corner.
They then won clean lineout ball which after an initial drive from the forwards was moved across field, a home defender flew out of the defensive line and was clearly offside under his own posts and the referee duly awarded the kick. There had been some discussion before the game about who would undertake the kicking duties in the absence of Matt Allinson but Graham took charge of the situation and knocked the kick over without any fuss.
It was then Northern's turn to attack, the kicked a wind assisted penalty into the Cumbrian's 22 and set up the catch and drive from the lineout, the defenders were able to bring the drive to a halt but then had to tackle desperately as home side battered the line. They looked to have successfully held out but the referee was playing advantage and they had been earlier penalised and this penalty was again kicked to the corner. This time the home side's catch and drive was better worked and the forced the Penrith eight back to claim the try.
The conversion was missed but the home team led by two points and for a while there was little in it but the Winters Park men then had a frantic ten minutes where they scored four tries and looked to have run away with the game. Mike Raine took a lineout ball on half way and the forwards drove the ensuing maul almost up to the 22, there was then a series of phases forcing play up the middle before the ball came right to Jamie McNaughton who found flanker Tom Lindsay on his outside and he was stopped just short by a scrambling defence. The ball was quickly recycled and when it came left Dan Richardson found himself in acres of space and was only tackled as he crossed the line, Graham then hit a difficult conversion into the wind.
Penrith now had their tails up and strong running by Brad Taylor and Lindsay among others saw them again in the home 22, Ryan Johnson then burst through the defensive line and when faced with the full back unselfishly drew him and released Graham who strolled over under the posts. Penrith added their third try after Raine, Graham and McNaughton combined off the back of a set scrum and drew the cover into the middle of the field, play was then spread rapidly right and a long pass found prop Will Morgan on the wing virtually on his own some 40m from the line. In a run the big prop will talk about for years, he outpaced the cover and beat the last defender on the outside to score a wingers try in the corner.
From the restart Dan Morgan secured the ball and it was moved to the backs where Taylor hit the gap, broke clear and went unchallenged under the posts, that was the bonus point try and at 29-5 it looked to be game set and match as Northern looked a beaten and bedraggled side, that isn't how it worked out as the home side staged a dogged fightback. Some slack defending in the Penrith midfield allowed the home side to score under the posts in the last play of the first half and supply them with a glimmer of hope.
The home side started the second half brightly but it was Penrith who scored first, Jay Rossi engineered himself a telling break and was brought down by the full back in the 22, Dan Morgan did well to get to him in support and took the pass flicked off the ground and went in for the try, Graham hit his fourth conversion out of five which were to prove vital.
The game was then stood on its head as Northern began an improbable fight back as they scored 17 unanswered points including three tries to put the game right back in the melting pot. Their first try was a messy affair after the ball was hacked through, the next came from the restart where the Penrith backs would not be happy with their defending and the third came as the home side piled on the pressure and forced their way over following a 5m scrum.
At this stage there was over 20 minutes left on the clock and the game could've gone either way but what didn't look on the cards was a scoreless final quarter, this is however how it turned out with the Cumbrians hanging on to claim the spoils. Northern rather ran out of steam as the game came to a close and Penrith regained some composure to calm things down see the game out. They did eventually end up on the front foot and finished the game in the home 22 with a penalty shot at goal with the final kick of the game.
It had been a strange game with play swinging one way and then the other, ten tries had been scored with seven of them into the brisk wind, Penrith had broken their run of four away defeats but they will have to improve on this if they are to progress.