Penrith eventually ran out comfortable winners in this mid table clash against their near neighbours from Darlington but in the first quarter of the game it looked anything but easy. The home side started the game very poorly, they lost the ball time and again in the opening exchanges and were split wide open following an aimless clearance kick down the centre of the field. Poor chasing and weak tackling gifted the visitors the opening try and Penrith continued to allow them to have the upper hand, although Joe Nattrass went close when tackled into touch just short of the line. Darlington Mowden Park missed a penalty shot before the home side finally spluttered into life. Penrith struggled in the lineout against a well drilled unit but half way through the first half at the fourth attempt won their first lineout ball, when the ball was moved to Steve Wood just outside the visitor's 22. There looked to be no real danger but by the time he had put in three sidesteps mesmerising the defence he had the line at his mercy. His conversion gave his side a two point lead they hardly deserved. Darlington Mowden Park's early play was to be their best but they hardly deserved to go into the break two scores down but that is what happened. On the stroke of half time Penrith had a scrum on the 22, Mike Raine broke from No.8 and breeched the first line of defence with ease and powered over the line for a try that was easier than in should have been. Wood's conversion gave the home team an unlikely 14-5 lead. Darlington Mowden Park looked dangerous at the beginning of the second period and the game was still in the balance, they looked to have manoeuvred themselves into a try scoring position with the ball wide on their right and men over; at this stage Wood killed the game off as a contest when he read the miss pass, intercepted and ran over half the length of the pitch to score under the posts. He again converted and Penrith were on their way to a convincing victory. Tom Armstrong had moved into the centre following the injury to young Sandy Kerridge and Armstrong was instrumental in the next score, he burst through the middle brushing aside a couple of tackles, linked with Hawley and Cartmel and they gave Nattrass a run in at the corner. Wood was again successful with the conversion, he had a 100% kicking record for the afternoon and next to go over was a penalty when the visitors were penalised for hanging on at the breakdown. Gavin Cartmel won a 5 metre scrum for his side following his chip and chase to the line when he tackled the covering defender behind his own line. Mike Raine broke from No.8 as he had in the first half and again the visitor's defence could not handle his power and pace and he registered his second try. With 5 minutes to go Penrith rather took their eyes off the ball and Darlington Mowden Park scored what could only be described as two consolation tries, in between them however Mike Hawley scored a clever try. Penrith turned the ball over on the visitor's 22, Hawley took the ball going blind, there was nothing on so he chipped over the flat defence but looked to be second in the race for the line. As the final defender looked to be winning the chase and diving on the ball Hawley toe poked it from underneath him and scored himself. This was a very pleasing win for Penrith in what was the final game of the first half of the season. With seven wins, a draw and eight bonus points to show for their efforts so far they can look forward to the remainder of the season with some confidence. The side is maturing nicely with the youngsters coming on at a pace.