Penrith inched slightly closer to safety as they drew with fourth in the league, Northwich, at home on Saturday. That means with a win and two draws in their last three games and a four try bonus point in each game they have taken 11 points from a possible 15 and they are now seven points above the third relegation spot with three games remaining. Their fate is in their own hands as they travel to Burnage, who currently occupy the last relegation place, and a win would almost certainly guarantee them their current status.
With their strong home form Penrith were hoping to beat a strong Northwich side but on the day they more than had their work cut out. The visitors had a large pack, were well drilled and always looked dangerous when in possession of the ball, especially wide out. Saying that the home side couldn't have had a better start. The visitors had the put into the first set scrum in the third minute and the Penrith eight unceremoniously drove them off their own ball and earned a penalty.
The penalty was kicked deep into the 22 and Dan Richardson won the lineout ball and the Penrith pack were only thwarted in their drive for the line by foul play. The resultant penalty was kicked to within 5m of the line, Richardson again secured the ball and this time the forward drive could not be stopped and Tom Lindsay was at the back of the maul to claim the try, Nathan Wooff converted and the home side were seven points to the good.
Northwich were too good a side to be dominated for any length of time and were soon on the scoreboard themselves, a period of decent Penrith possession was halted when the ball carrier was isolated and penalised for hanging on to the ball. The incident was midway between the half way and the 10m line but the decision was made to kick at goal and the penalty soared over.
The visitors were then awarded a penalty in an eminently kickable position and surprisingly after the first successful attempt chose to kick to the corner. It proved to be the correct decision as they scored a converted try from the lineout in the corner. They had lady luck to thank as they overthrew at the lineout but then managed to scramble possession at the tail, the ball eventually went wide and the man hitting the line at pace looked to have spilt the ball as it ballooned off him but it hung invitingly in the air for him to regather it and by this time he was over the line. Nothing to do with luck was the conversion from wide out that was very well taken and you do tend to make your own luck anyway!
The Penrith forwards did have the upper hand in the set scrums throughout the game but not always to the liking of the referee, at a scrum just into the Northwich half they were penalised before the front rows even went down and the tap was quickly taken and whipped wide to the left and the pace and power of the visitor's backs saw them score wide out. Another excellent conversion pulled their lead out to 10 points.
Penrith were straight back on the offensive, Mike Raine got the ball from the restart and shrugged off a number of tacklers and got almost to the line but the defenders turned the ball over at the break down. The home side were next to score and it was from a scrum on the visitor's 22, Penrith won the ball and James Boustead ran it up hard in the 10 channel, the forwards picked and drove to win a few more yards before George Graham spotted the opportunity and broke through to score, the conversion went over and the gap was down to three.
Having got themselves back into the game Penrith conceded another converted try on half time, penalties were costing them as another was kicked to the corner and the strong running Northwich fullback was eventually set up and scored after breaking through midfield.
The gap was again ten points as Penrith trailed 14-24 at the break but they did have what little breeze there was at their backs in the second half and the visitors did look as if they might tire. Early in the second period Northwich surprisingly missed a penalty attempt and then David Preston, the Penrith coach attempted to change the game. He had a strong bench of forwards and with just over half an hour to go Scott Lancaster, Josh Dowson and Lee Chapman all entered the fray to bolster the home effort up front and it seemed to work.
For a while they were their own worst enemies setting up good attacking positions only to concede penalties to relieve the pressure for the visitors. Brad Taylor and Raine got deep in the 22 only for there to be a penalty for crossing, Ryan Lee stormed into the 22 and yet another penalty was given away. Raine and Adam Howe put in strong runs up to the 22 and this time it was Northwich hands in the ruck and Wooff knocked the penalty over to reduce the lead.
The visitors weren't long in pulling the lead back out to 10 points when awarded a penalty for a high tackle on the 22 and a simple kick went over. There was very little between the sides and Penrith were right back in as they kicked a penalty to the corner. Raine took the ball at the front of the line and the Penrith pack applied the drive to force their way over the line for Chapman to ground the ball for the try. The conversion was wide but the gap was down to five.
Wooff thought he had pulled his side level when he got over the line after good build up play but the referee wasn't happy the ball was grounded. Penrith did draw level after kicking another penalty to the corner, this time, Lee, throwing the ball in found Richardson in the middle of the line and then joined the rear of the driven maul to collapse over the line as the visiting forwards were humped back once more over their own line, the conversion slid wide with minutes to go.
Penrith had good field position to claim the win but again penalties cost them their chance, it was telling that the visitors with a penalty on half way could have kicked the ball to the 22 for an attacking lineout but instead chose to tap the ball then kick it into touch and end the game, clearly they were happy to settle for the draw. Now to Burnage.