Penrith's poor away form continued as they came away from Blackburn with another defeat and not even the consolation of a bonus point. Although they did come away empty handed they could be reasonably happy with their performance as they battled hard with a side that showed five changes in the starting line up after a number of unavailabilities.
It was a bleak afternoon in Lancashire and Penrith faced a strong wind laced with heavy rain as the game started. They learned very early how strong the wind was as they kicked off and an upfield punt from the home side went three quarters the length of the pitch and saw them defending a lineout deep in their own 22.
The visitors were soon on the backfoot as they conceded a penalty which was kicked to the corner, Blackburn went for the routine catch and drive from the lineout and scored easily. On seven minutes a pass went down as Penrith ran the ball into the wind, the loose ball was hacked on and the home chasers won the race to the line to claim the score. At 12 points down it looked as if it was going to be a very long cold afternoon for the Cumbrians and things weren't helped when the home side went for a long range penalty with the wind and pulled their lead out to 15 points.
Penrith did rally though, it was not a day for any fancy rugby just pure hard graft and bloody mindedness and their forwards rose to the task. Scott Lancaster, drafted into the side for his first senior game for three seasons, set the tone running the ball in with real verve. Ryan Lee and Will Morgan were also to the fore and slowly the shape of the game changed as Blackburn were forced back into their own half and then into their 22 and Penrith looked more and more dangerous.
They got their reward after strong running from first Matt Allinson and then Adam Howe put them in a good position, the ball came to stand off Ross Jackson who made the half break and released Jay Rossi who set off on one of his jinking runs. He was head on to the fullback when George Graham popped up on his shoulder and took the scoring pass and stayed ahead of the chasing cover to reach the line.
The visitors continued to press as half time approached and they had a series of penalties in the home 22 which they kept running as Blackburn kept infringing. It was not pretty but Penrith were getting the upper hand. Both sides lost a player to a yellow card as a scuffle developed into a fight when the ball could not be recovered to take a penalty. Two penalties later and Penrith claimed their second try as the forwards battered the line. Morgan was a foot short, then Howe was inches short before Lancaster's drive saw him ground the ball on the line.
Penrith were adrift by only three points and now had the strong wind at their backs for the second half, the smart money would be on an away win but that is not how it worked out. They did make a decent start to the second period and looked to have taken the lead as Jon Fell appeared to get over in the corner but it wasn't given and the game then shifted the way of the home side.
Penrith were their own worst enemy as they let their discipline slip and conceded a host of penalties which made the home side's progress into the wind a lot easier than it should have been. The more frustrated they got as the game drifted away from them the higher the penalty count went. Blackburn scored after they won a ball against the head in the visitor's 22 and then poor tackling allowed a fourth and with their tails up they added a fifth.
The visitors effort didn't falter and they got into some decent positions and looked as if they might rescue something from the game but then came the inevitable penalty or dropped pass. They now face runaway league leaders Carlisle at home and will be looking to restore some pride after losing in their league game in September. They can take some pride out of the effort and application on display on a difficult afternoon in difficult conditions.