Penrith's management team were delighted with the effort and spirit shown by their makeshift side at the end of a difficult week, they were also delighted to win a losing bonus point at the death with the last kick of the game.
This was Penrith's second attempt to play this game and they almost had as many problems this week raising a side as they did the week they couldn't travel because of lack of numbers. They named an 18 man squad on Thursday only for there to be one cry off on Friday evening and another unforgivably on Saturday morning without telling anyone and just not turning up. This resulted in both the coaches naming themselves on the bench to fulfil the fixture.
There had been talk the game might be off due to a waterlogged pitch but a let up in the rain and a strong wind had combined to make the ground playable but conditions were testing, It was very soft underfoot and there was a wind gusting down the ground.
The home side had first use of the slope and wind and soon had the Cumbrians under immense pressure in their own 22, Penrith defended for their lives with some desperate last ditch tackling and made life as difficult as they could for the home side who were dominating the proceedings. The away side were leaking penalties as they strove to keep their line intact and Wilmslow had a string of attacking 5m lineouts and scrums but could not get themselves over the line.
It was a credit to the away side's tenacity that it took the almost 20 minutes before Wilmslow could open the scoring but then a second try quickly followed and it was then a credit to their spirit that Penrith hung on in there and didn't allow the them another score in the rest of the first half with the gale at their backs and a two man numerical advantage..
Brad Quail was unlucky to be yellow carded as he covered back when the home side made a clean break from half way, he ran down and tackled one attacker who got the ball away and then caught the second but was adjudged to have used a high tackle. Penrith received a second yellow for persistent offside and had to play the final 10 minutes of the half with 13 men
Penrith then narrowed the lead with only 13 men on the field, their backs did their best to get up quickly and into the faces of the home threes and this time it worked well as Jay Rossi took an interception on his 22 and got clean away, the cover looked as if it was going to get to him but he spun out of contact and made the line for a vital score. Fraser Nicolson then converted well from wide out into the swirling wind.
Penrith turned round still well in the game at 14-7 down with the elements in their favour and looked as if they might pull off an unlikely win. They had their chances playing deep in the home 22 and looked dangerous when they attacked close to the breakdown and kept the ball in the forwards. Captain on the day Adam Howe battled courageously throughout but he was not alone as they all put a real shift in. There was no breather for the front row as there often is using replacements but they soldiered and the Penrith eight eventually got on top in the set scrums and were able to make life uncomfortable for the home pack.
The away side couldn't quite break down the dogged home defence and their chances seemed to have gone when the they conceded a third converted try as the game went into the final quarter. Penrith continued to press though and Hugh Burne made some dangerous runs, Quail went close and the game finished with them pressing in the right hand corner after Wilmslow conceded a couple of penalties under no little pressure. Penrith were pounding the home line through the forwards but then the ball came right and Rossi was able to ease Kyle Adams away on the outside of his opposition winger and he went in at the corner, he then tried to get round as near to the posts as he could for the conversion.
Nicolson then stepped forward with the chance to get his side within a score of the home side and win a losing bonus point, it was sticky underfoot and although behind him the wind was swirling but he absolutely nailed it. The ball perfectly bisected the posts and the team could travel home knowing they had got some reward for their efforts.
Life will not get much easier next week at Birkenhead Park.