Penrith played their final home game of the season against promotion
chasing Chester and put in a much better performance than the scoreline
suggests. They had secured their league status the previous week with
an excellent second half showing at Birkenhead Park so in reality there
was nothing at stake for them but they still gave their all.
The game was widely advertised as Steve Wood’s final home game and he
would doubtless liked to have won but he would be happy his side were
totally committed and made a good Chester side earn their victory.
Penrith played the first half with the wind at their backs and in the
first quarter Wood showed his ability to use the elements, his raking
cross field kicks and the ball running away on the hard ground kept
putting Penrith deep into the visitor’s half. They took the lead with a
Wood penalty following a period of pressure and possession on the
Chester 22. They nearly doubled their lead after stealing lineout ball
on the Chester 22 and attacking through the forwards but this time
Wood’s penalty attempt drifted just wide.
The Cumbrians were making light of their table topping opposition but a
misplaced pass, and a penalty conceded saw them defending on their own
line. Another penalty was conceded and when it was taken quickly they
were caught on the hop and a simple try conceded. Penrith continued to
battle but were caught out again following a poor clearance kick and a
shortage of cover and were two tries down.
Ryan Johnson was having a busy afternoon at the back of the scrum
tidying up ball on the retreat, by and large he was managing manfully
but unfortunately on one of the few occasions he was able to get clean
away he got isolated, the support was late in arriving and Chester were
awarded a penalty which they kicked to go 15-3 ahead.
Penrith were unlucky not to reduce the deficit before half time, Dan
Richardson made good ground after snapping up a wayward pass from the
visitors and Gary Hodgson from centre ran a good line, was clean
through the first line of defence with the full back to beat but
couldn’t quite find the support.
Penrith narrowly avoided their usual trick of conceding a score on the
stroke of half time and then started the second half like an express
train. They made a change at the break with Ed Swale moving to centre
and Ben Littleton coming in to scrum half and it seemed to add some
vitality. After a passage of attacking phases from the home side
Chester were scrambling and gave away a kickable penalty and Wood
slotted it into the wind and Penrith looked to be back in it.
Chester however are a quality side and play some top class rugby in
both the forwards and the backs. The longer the game went on and the
more pressure were in at the set scrummage and when they defended a 5m
scrum a pushover looked on the cards. The Penrith eight this time
managed to hold their ground then the ball came to the backs and the
overlap was created wide on the opposite side of the field for a top
draw try.
Penrith defended for all they were worth, everyone, forwards and backs
alike, stood their ground and didn’t shirk a tackle. They even managed
a break away or two of their own. Neil Warnock made one clean break but
the move could not be quite finished off, Wood took a quick penalty and
was only inches away from winning a chip and chase to the corner.
As the game entered its last five minutes the Chester entourage were
getting more and more frustrated as their side were unable to score a
fourth try and earn themselves a bonus point. The Penrith defence was
being stretched to its limits but they were holding out at 22-6 and
that would have been a fair reflection on the game. The game however
isn’t always fair and they were unfortunate to concede a try when the
ball squirted out of the side of the scrum and then cruelly suffered
another two scores as the Chester backs showed their skills against
tired legs.
Penrith have had one or two poor shows this season when their
commitment has been called into question but this was not one of them.
All eighteen gave their all for their captain Steve Wood, they will
travel to the North East next week to face Percy Park determined to
give their skipper the send off he deserves.