Penrith had another tough day on the road coming up against a very big strong Birkenhead Park side on the Wirral. According to league position Penrith faced a much tougher test the week before at Wilmslow and all but matched them but this week were totally outgunned and eventually bullied by a well drilled team who were technically superior. In this league at present it really does seem to be just how you catch a side, how many of their front line players they can field on the day as to how you will fare.
Penrith could have no complaints about the effort shown by their players they were just physically under the cosh all afternoon. They were three points down after three minutes and then 10 points down after 10 following a penalty kick to the corner, a catch and drive from the lineout was worked to perfection and when the big Birkenhead pack worked this well they were almost impossible to stop and drove over for a converted try.
Penrith then had their best moment of the afternoon and scored the try of the game, Mason Lewthwaite made a powerful break down the middle and put Fraser Nicolson away, he was brought to ground on the 22 and when the ball was recycled Scott Lancaster drove the ball forward and it was then spun right. Jay Rossi had a little bit of space wide out and was able to squeeze round his man and then put Manny Mbatha away on the outside and the young South African sped away for a try on debut. The difficult conversion into the wind was wide.
Penrith then had a 10 minute period with only 14 players after a yellow card and conceded two tries as the home side went through their paces, it was difficult to contain the home side with a full compliment but almost impossible with 14. Birkenhead scored a fourth try through their forwards from a 5m scrum but the Cumbrians did finish the half on the front foot and build some pressure in the home 22 giving some hope that with the elements in their favour in the second half they might have a bit more success.
Penrith did start the second period on the front foot and get a foot hold in the home side's half, Chris Jackson, Lancaster and Mbatha combined to made good ground up the right but there was no end product. They spent a long period in possession and strung some phases together but then lost the ball in midfield and the home side took full advantage and scored a fifth try with the turnover ball.
Birkenhead then looked to have scored another try from a catch and drive from the lineout but it was adjudged not to have been grounded but they quickly made amends scoring a pushover try from the ensuing 5m scrum. Despite these set backs the visitors could not be accused of letting their heads go down against clearly stronger opposition, they kept battling away and were rewarded with a second try. The forwards were doing their best to muscle their way over the line in the right hand corner, the ball then came left, Ross Jackson managed to wriggle through a gap, make ground and throw a looped pass to Nicolson who made the line.
The home side then executed another text book catch and drive try and the game was going into it's final moments with the home score just shy of 50. A generous amount of added time allowed the Wirral side to add a further two tries and end with a final scoreline that was rather unkind to a Penrith side that although coming up well short had given their all. Skipper Adam Howe had led from the front and Lancaster had laid his body on the line all afternoon and for a player carrying an injury couldn't have done any more.
It gets no easier with a home game against league leaders Burnage this week.