Penrith kept the pressure up on the two teams above them in the league with a convincing win against bottom of the table West Park. The home side were never under any great threat and scored at regular intervals throughout the game, it is a measure of the standards they are setting themselves that they were disappointed with a forty odd point win thinking they could have done a bit better.
Penrith started strongly and immediately put the visitors on the back foot, they had a try disallowed out wide for a forward pass when Joe Nattrass had the line at his mercy before Steve Wood put them ahead with a penalty after 5 minutes. Although West Park didn't offer a great deal in attack they were a big physical side and had to be beaten. Penrith had to work hard for all of their points and often caused themselves problems in their eagerness. The next score came following a kick and chase by Wood and Tom Armstrong which resulted in the ball
being knocked dead and a five metre scrum, Mike Raine broke from No8 and scored with ease down the blind side. Wood converted; his next contribution was a second penalty when the visitors offended in front of their own posts.
Penrith mistakes led to a try for the visitors, they were penalised on their 22 and West kicked to the corner, they won the lineout and drove over in the corner to cut the deficit. This was a rare foray into the Penrith half but for the majority of the time it was the home side who did the pressing. They won a 5 metre scrum and a desperate West pack were penalised for "foot up", Raine took the penalty quickly, drove for the line and when the ball came back James Thornton drove over for a very well deserved try, his first for the club. Wood again converted
for a 20 - 5 half time lead which did not really reflect their almost total domination.
The Cumbrians sealed the game early in the second period, Thornton caught the kick off and made good ground, the ball went right and Mike Hawley and Gav Cartmel combined to put Armstrong away, he powered into the 22 before the ball went left and a long Wood pass almost put Cartmel in; the ball was won and moved back and an inside ball to Ryan Johnson opened up a scrambling defence and he barrelled over. It was all Penrith at this stage and they scored their fourth try to win the bonus point from distance, a Hawley break from deep inside his own half took him up to the visitor's 22 where he unselfishly found the electric
Cartmel who scorched in. The next try was a little bit of Wood magic, he looked to be kicking a penalty to the corner but tapped it to himself, chipped the flat footed defence waiting for the kick, chased and gathered the ball himself and shimmied over.
With 20 minutes to go the game lost its shape and drifted to its conclusion, following a number of injuries to the visitor's front row the scrums were uncontested and the game became largely uncontested and almost descended into farce. The referee seemed to take pity on the away side and the game was constantly interrupted with the whistle and injuries and the home side couldn't raise the tempo to finish the contest with a bang. They did manage one further score when Hawley and Cartmel exchanged passes at pace for Hawley to go over in the corner. Wood converted off the touch line to maintain his 100% kicking record for the afternoon.
The visit of Birkenhead Park next weekend will be a completely different affair, they are the only side this season Penrith have taken nothing off, not even a losing bonus point and they are the only side that Penrith have come off the field after the game and not felt they should have beaten. It is a game they will have to win if they are to maintain their pursuit of Stockport and Morley at the top of the league.