PENRITH 38 MORLEY 14

League leaders Morley visited Winters Park for what was expected to be a close encounter following their narrow victory over the Cumbrians earlier in the season. It proved to be a thrilling spectacle with both sides exchanging blows in the first half with the visitors just edging it. In the second period Penrith went through the gears and blew the league leaders away with four unanswered tries.
Penrith made a good start securing a scrum on the visitors 22, Tom Armstrong came off the blind side wing and broke the first line of defence, When the ball came to Steve Wood he put a cross field chip in the path of Joe Nattrass who gathered the ball and evaded two tacklers to score the opening try, Wood converted. The home side then spent long periods on the back foot and frantically defended their own line. Morley looked a strong, well drilled outfit and ran the ball in hard. They were soon rewarded with a rather soft looking penalty try, the conversion from in front of the posts levelled the scores. The home side were hanging on grimly at this stage, were really under the cosh and were fortunate on two occasions when their line was breached only for the referee to call the visitors back for forward passes.
Although the home side were seeing little of the ball they were to score next, Nattrass was put in space and made good ground to the away 22, Morley infringed at the breakdown and were penalised twice for backchat, the two 10 metres took the penalty to the line. Penrith opted for the scrum, Mike Raine drove off the back from No8, the drive was continued by David Preston and when the ball came to Wood he attracted the cover and slipped a short pass to Gavin Cartmel who crossed from short range. The league leaders were still dominating and took the lead when their No8 found himself on the wing when 2nd phase ball came wide, he kept stepping back inside the cover to score with a strong run. The
conversion edged them in front and they held the lead till the break despite a strong finish to the half by the home side.
What happened in the second half was in direct contrast to the first, Penrith would dominate almost completely and it was the pack who did all the damage rather than the backs. They retook the lead after Morley were penalised on their own line, they again opted for the scrum and Raine again broke from No8; this time he was not to be denied and crossed for a try that Wood converted. After 18 minutes Morley were in possession and worked an overlap on their right, a long looped pass was read by Wood covering on the wing, he intercepted and made for the line but could see he was going to be caught by the winger, he was smart enough and strong enough to hold the winger up till support arrived in the shape of Mike Stephens and he did the rest.
Penrith continued to press and the visitors were again penalised on their own line; again Penrith opted for the scrum and this time they drove the wilting visitors over their own line and Raine claimed his second try. A push over try for Penrith has been a rarity in recent years so the front row of Dixon Thornton and Carr can take some credit.
As the game reached its conclusion the two sides had about punched themselves out; they were out on their feet but the home side managed one last effort to put the icing on the cake. The forwards drove a lineout from halfway, the ball was spun wide, Adam Pate and Cartmel combined to put in James Ellar who somersaulted through the final despairing tackle for a deserved sixth try in a comprehensive victory. Wood converted to cap an excellent afternoon's work by himself and the whole side, from 1 to 18 they had been outstanding. The Penrith team, coach and supporters had been reasonably confident of a win but no one
could have foreseen the manner in which they won. There have been one or two claims this season to have seen one of the best games played at Winters Park and this one was certainly up there.