Nerves were on edge at Winters Park before this bottom of the table
scrap, defeat would see Penrith move into the bottom three and in a
relegation battle they would struggle to get out of. Win and although
they are a long way from being out of the woods there would be clear
daylight between them and the drop zone. They needn't have worried as
the home side produced their best performance of the season and made
those present wonder why on earth they are in the predicament they are
in, the answer being they haven't played anything like this week in
week out.
The game started with both sides feeling each other out, Penrith
started decently enough stringing a few phases together but it was the
visitors who had the first chance of points, a reasonably kickable
penalty shot that went just wide. The home side countered from the
missed kick and ended up with a lineout on the Morley 22, possession
was secured, Steve Wood made the half break and although under severe
pressure slipped the ball to the supporting Gary Hodgson who went in
under the posts.
The home side then dominated but could not quite finish any of their
chances, Mike Hawley made a clean line break and ran away from his
support, Phil Fell went close and then James Ellar looked to have
undone the defence with one of his chip and chases but just lost out.
They looked on the verge of running away with it just couldn't apply
the finishing touch. When they did score the second try in came from a
most unpromising position, slow ball went out to the right, Phil Fell
looked to be back on his heels with few options, he stepped back inside
and must have felt like Moses as the defence parted in front of him and
he threaded his way clean through to the line.
Wood converted for a second time and Penrith looked to be away but in
the 10 minutes before the break Morley had their best spell of the game
and came back strongly, they kicked a penalty and then spent some time
in and around the home 22. Penrith were glad to get to the break with
their 14-3 advantage intact, the second half was to prove a completely
different affair.
It's often said forwards decide who wins the game and the backs by how
many, well the Penrith backs decided it was going to be by quite a few.
Tries came at regular intervals with Jon Fell and Mike Hawley in
particular shredding the Morley cover down the left flank. The first
try after the break came from a lineout on the Morley 22, the forwards
made inroads into the visitor's defence with Ryan Johnson to the fore
before Wood took quick ball from the ruck, went right and drifted a
pass to Ellar who squeezed in at the corner.
The next try came from a sweeping move down the left with Hawley and
Jon Fell combining for the latter to score, it was however really Billy
Barton's try, he put in two massive hits in midfield and then secured
to loose ball to put the flyers away. The same combination of Hawley
and Fell were responsible for the next score when a ball was won
against the head on half way and the ball quickly wide with Jon picking
up his second score.
Hawley then scored a brace of tries himself as a shellshocked Morley
just couldn't handly his pace and lines of running. The final score
came as Sandy Kerridge took advantage of ball spilled by the visitors
and hacked it through, Barton was again on hand secure the ball which
came to Wood who scored a thoroughly deserved try himself as he jinked
over the line with a couple of defenders attempting to get their hands
on him. He had had an excellent afternoon showing off his full array of
skills with just about everything he tried coming off.
Penrith's afternoon got better after the game as the results came in
and the other strugglers had lost, there is still a long way to go but
their form is improving, spring is here and they much prefer playing on
firm surfaces. They travel next to Lymm who do have a perfect playing
surface, if they show this sort of form it should be an enjoyable trip.