Penrith ended up running out pretty comfortable winners in this clash
between two of the teams struggling in the National 3 North relegation
zone. The final score would suggest a fairly routine win but this was
far from the case in the first quarter of the game.
The visitors started the game strongly were on the front foot out
muscling the home side, although they lost their stand off as a result
of a dangerous "tip tackle" they scored shortly after taking advantage
of some poor Penrith first up and covering tackling for a seven point
lead.
Conceding a soft try early on has become a habit in recent weeks for
this Penrith side but again, as in recent weeks they were able to come
back almost immediately. A raking Steve Wood kick ahead pushed the
visitors back and gave them a lineout on their own 22. They missed
their jumper in the middle of the lineout and Penrith were gifted quick
ball at the tail, they shifted the ball quickly wide but outside centre
James Ellar found himself isolated with his winger lying deep not
expecting the ball to be won, Ellar however, with few options had the
guile and strength to beat his man on the outside and avoid the cover
to score out wide, it is easy to see why he is the leagues top try
scorer. The conversion, into the breeze and wide out was missed but
Penrith were back in the game.
At this point the game could have gone either way, Mike Hawley, at full
back, was having an influential game and made a great break and from
half way was tackled just short of the line, Gary Hodgson in close
support almost finished the move off but then play swung to the other
end of the field and it was the home line under threat. Beverley's
backs broke the Penrith line far too easily and a try looked almost
certain, with the line at their mercy they didn't quite finish as
clinically as they should and Gavin Young was able to use all his grit
and experience to get back to make an important try saving tackle.
Penrith were defending and had a scrum in their own 22, the home
scrummage was under pressure, it crabbed and wheeled towards the
touchline
and as Paul Newton came away with the ball he immeadiately saw what was
on, he evade the back row, drew in the bindside winger and sent Jon
Fell away. He was quickly up to half way and was confronted by the full
back, he chipped the ball over his head and was away on his own. He had
time to hack the ball on a couple of times and touch down in the corner.
Penrith now had their noses in front and continued to press, they were
awarded a penalty outside the 22, a futher 10m given by the referee
made it easily kickable into the wind and Wood pushed them further into
the lead at 13-7. The home side were now starting to dominate, Mike
Raine broke at No8 from a scrum on half way and took play into the 22,
the chance looked to have gone when Beverley won turnover ball but as
they tried to run it out of their own 22 Gary Hodgson was alert enough
to read the pass, snap up the interception and beat the cover to the
line.
Beverley's woes were increased as Newton chipped and chased the ball
deep into their 22 and forced them to concede the lineout. Ian
McDowell's unerring throw found Rob Dawson and the maul was formed,
Ryan Johnson emerged on the blind side 5m out and some half hearted
tackling was not going to stop him and he crashed over. Another Wood
penalty on half time stretched the lead to 28-7 and Penrith turned
round with the wind at their backs.
The second half never quite reached the heights of the first but the
game was effectively won and it was a matter of seeing it out and
securing the points. Beverley did mount an attempted come back after
the restart and did score a second time but never looked as if they
were going to really rattle the Cumbrians. Their biggest problem was
the amount of unforced errors they made, they could never build a
period of sustained pressure because of a dropped ball or a missed
pass. Ed Swale
was to benefit from this as they tried to run the ball out of their own
half, a pass went to no one in particular, ended up on the deck and
Swale was the first to react, scooped it up and scurried in from the
10m line to settle any Penrith nerves.
As the game drew to a close the home side were able to put the icing on
the cake with a sixth try, a penalty was kicked to the corner, the
lineout won, there were a couple of drives for the line before the ever
improving James Thornton emerged with the ball and barrelled over.
Ellar's conversion sealed a fine and more than vital win.
Results elsewhere meant Penrith's efforts were rewarded with a rise up
the table as they leapfrogged Morley to get out of the relegation zone.
There is absolutely no room for complacency as the results in the
league are becoming harder and harder to forcast with the teams at the
bottom all capable of picking up points. Penrith will now be looking to
target the Waterloo game next week, they lost narrowly to them at home
in September but are a much stronger squad now.